Accident Prone
by wolfdragonful
Summary: Robin seems to be accident prone. Thank god Superboy's around!
1. Chapter 1

**Murphy's Law kicked in after the notice I gave about re-writing the story. I now have two more people who love the story so now I will have to work even harder to keep them interested. Anyway, Here's the re-write. Please understand, this is the original first chapter divided into three parts so if you read the first chapter, you already know what's happening. I swear, I will let you know when the change kicks in.**

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><p>Dick Grayson was sort of tired of being the foster son of a billionaire. He was too noticeable and the fact that he had to go to parties made his face very recognizable. He'd been in front of so many cameras that he'd lost count and he had no intention of starting over fresh every year - month. He sighed as he became even more aware that he felt cornered at the charity parties like the one he was at presently. He had to wear a suit that was nowhere near as comfortable as his Robin uniform and he had to wear a tie. He had to smile and he had to mingle with people who didn't even care about what he and his team did. He had to pretend he was normal and he had to be convincing about it all.<p>

He wasn't sure what he hated most about these things; the pretending or the fact that they were so...open to attack. He hated these get-togethers but at least he knew he wasn't the only one. He could see Clark Kent trying very hard to keep up the 'simple small town guy' facade which was his greatest cover seeing as he was Superman. He watched him stumble after Lois Lane who was trailing after Bruce Wayne for a quote. Bruce was being cordial as always but refusing to 'incriminate' himself as he put it; all the while making smooth invitations to lunch or coffee to the female reporter. Clark could only stumble after the two people and glare at Bruce.

_What you get for not asking the woman out before you made an idiot out of yourself_, Dick thought as pity raced through his mind. He shrugged it off. Clark had made the choice to be that way with his secret identity so it was the man's own fault he couldn't do anything against the suave Bruce Wayne.

"Dick?" Bruce called kindly as he waved at him to come over.

Dick sauntered over, his practice as a 'rich kid' beginning to show more than ever now that he'd been at it for four years. He smiled as he was introduced, shook hands, and stood patiently at Bruce's side. He even made sure to smile and listen as he looked at his mentor admiringly. He glanced at Clark and gave him a knowing glare. Clark sent one back but got caught when Lois looked back at him. When she glanced to Dick again, he was a perfect little angel again. Bruce sent a smirk to Clark and then sobered up again when Lois looked at him questioningly.

"Clark must not be used to kids huh Lois?" Bruce asked amiably, covering for his ally's slip up perfectly; like it had been rehearsed by both parties. Dick smiled sheepishly and shuffled his feet. He glanced at Clark innocently before murmuring that he could leave if the man was uncomfortable with his presence.

"Oh ignore Kent," Lois chimed as she looped her bare arm around Dick's shoulders and hugged him close. "I don't get why he'd have a problem with kids. Especially since you've got such wonderful manners young man!" She looked at Bruce with approval. "You've done well with big, bad Bruce Wayne haven't you Dick?"

"Yes Ma'am," he replied making sure his tone oozed with believable sincerity. It wasn't hard to do anymore. He had done well with Bruce as his mentor and foster father. He set his dark blue eyes on Bruce again. "He's done well by me too."

"Indeed I have," Bruce said with a chuckle. He sounded like he'd been scolded; by a thirteen-year-old boy of all people. "Dick has been a greatly needed part of the family Ms. Lane."

"Ms. Lane is my mother. Lois, please!"

"Alright Lois."

The group smiled their eyes all lying to each other as the two Gotham Knights continued to give Clark knowing looks. Clark of course continued to glare back at them. Of course, the Gotham Knights hid their looks better than Clark Kent did. It was probably because they got so much practice at it. They didn't rely on masks to hide their features all the time; that would have been stupid to do. Lois of course wasn't completely truthful herself seeing as her eyes shone with pity for her coworker. She could tell that something was making the fumbling geek act the way he was but she wasn't going to blame it on Bruce or Dick; not when they were being such perfect gentlemen to her.

The party dragged on, Lois hounding Bruce while hanging on his arm like a purse on a woman as Clark circulated the area getting quotes and avoiding Lois' biting comments. Dick slipped through the crowds in an almost bored manner as he looked for something to interest him. Naturally though, there wasn't much to draw his attention away from the party long enough to give him a viable excuse to leave the place for a few minutes.

He didn't hate the parties too much to actively sabotage them just to get free of them for a little while. Bruce had caught him doing that once and he'd learned the hard way to not bother. Besides, Alfred was a force to be reckoned with if he found Dick doing something on the sly. Again, another lesson that was learned the hard way by the Boy Wonder. Dick actually liked the parties for certain reasons; one of which was that the parties were the most relaxing thing he got to do sometimes.

"Does Bruce plan on giving me crap every time I see him?" Clark asked suddenly. He stood in his classic 'reporter' pose, notepad at the ready and pen in hand as he stared intently at his 'prey' for a simple word or two. Dick had forgotten that, when he wanted to be, Clark was pretty damned sneaky himself.

"Off the record? I have no clue really," Dick replied smoothly as he channeled his inner Bruce Wayne. "I really can't read the man as well as say Jon can."

"Not funny Dick," Clark said, his tone darkening slightly. Dick didn't even twitch.

"I'm telling the truth," he replied calmly as he passed the taller man. "Bruce doesn't tell me everything just so you know. I'm usually guessing with him."

"Dick," Clark growled.

"Think about it Supes," Dick whispered, his voice serene. "You, Mr. Perfect, can't compare to the psychotic Bat when it comes to family." He glared up at the elder man, somewhat proud with himself when he saw the look of pure shock that danced over the Kryptonian's face. "I mean seriously. I feel bad for Superboy; waiting for someone who refuses to acknowledge his existence."

"I do not refuse to acknowledge his existence," Clark stated, his eyes darting to the side as he blushed. Dick smirked at him.

"Then why not show up at Mount Justice a few times. Talk to him like you talk to me." Dick shrugged then. "Then again, that may be too difficult for you to do now that you've been avoiding him so resolutely."

Clark opened his mouth to reply but that was when Bruce made his easy appearance. The raven haired man smiled at Clark amiably and then focused his gaze on Dick. The youth knew that look and he promptly nodded his understanding. Trust Bruce to have ears everywhere and to be listening in on every conversation going on in the place. He'd probably been pretty close by though seeing as he did tend to be a bit overprotective of the teen. Dick didn't really mind the fact that Bruce was protective of him; he was used to that. It was Dick's teammates' over protectiveness that he wasn't yet used to.

Dick slipped out of the crowds and took the chance to glance back. Bruce and Clark were having a glaring contest as per usual and Dick took it as a sign that he wouldn't be missed any time soon. He strode away from the party, hands stuffed his pockets and his eyes fixed on the surrounding area. He wasn't about to let himself be caught off guard after all. He couldn't afford to be caught off guard.

The trees whispered as the wind danced over the leaves, the branches bending lazily. Dick smiled. He always liked the feel of the breeze on his face. He chalked it up to being raised in a family of acrobats who did death defying stunts on the trapeze without a net under them. He blinked away the stinging tears that were threatening to breach his eyes. Right, how dare he forget that it was that time of year; the anniversary of his parents' death. He glanced back at the party, the soft music muted thanks to the distance between him and the tents. Bruce and Alfred had been tactful not bringing it up around him and he was beginning to realize it. He'd have to thank them for that later.

"Damn it," he sighed as he kicked the dirt with his shoe. He turned on his heel and strode back to the party, flitting to Bruce's side as soon as he was able. He wasn't surprised to find Clark and Lois still there, yakking away without a care in the world. Actually, the two reporters were bickering over something that Dick could only guess was meaningful to only them. He glanced at Bruce questioningly.

"Forget it," Bruce said as he shook his head. "I brought up Superman versus Batman: who is better at their job." Dick winced.

"Why do you do this to yourself Bruce?"

"It passes the time." Bruce smiled down at him. It was one of those rare, genuine smiles that Dick knew were hard for even Alfred to earn. He beamed back at his mentor with a small giggle. He glanced back at the dynamic duo of reporters and snorted.

"Whatever floats your boat I guess."

"Did your breather help?" Bruce asked simply, his tone soft and undemanding. The question was what Dick expected more from Alfred than from Bruce. He didn't mind the fact that the elder hero was opening up to him a bit but he didn't really know how to deal with it the way Alfred – who had been around since forever – did. Yet, oddly, he knew what his answer had to be.

"Yeah," he replied. "It helped a lot. Thanks."

He smiled up at his mentor, feeling his admiration and joy at the simple question he had been given slip onto his face and throughout his body. Alfred had told him that sooner or later he'd know just how important he was to Bruce and that it would come unexpected but needed. He opened his dark blue eyes to find his mentor smiling back at him.

Again, it was one of those rare, genuine smiles that Dick wanted nothing more than to see on the man's face more often.

Dick's smile was quickly smacked from his face when he heard hysterical cackling over the loudspeakers. Bruce glared at the speakers before his eyes flashed over the area. Dick quickly followed his mentor's lead, his dark blue eyes falling on Clark and Lois, their eyes wide as the raspy laughter fell over the crowd. His eyes continued to sweep over the area until he heard a muted _thunk_ at his feet.

"Bomb!" Bruce yelled, his arms wrapping around Dick protectively. The next thing Dick knew, he was on the ground, Bruce shielding him as the bomb went off. Bruce then dragged him behind a concrete wall that would have come up to the youth's hip before the dust settled.

"Sorry," Dick whispered.

"Later," Bruce said tersely. Dick nodded in understanding. Bruce's head whipped around when he heard a squeak. Lois and Clark were pinned behind the sound stage systems, Clark shielding his coworker. A look passed over Bruce's face; a look Dick knew well enough to heed. "Stay put Dick," Bruce ordered with a growl before he slipped to the reporters.

"Like I'd want to," Dick muttered as he heard a popping noise and flinched from the flying bits of the wall edge. He winced when bits of concrete hit him, bouncing off his body and head. His eyes glanced to the place where Lois was with Bruce.

"Hello Gotham fat cats!" Joker's unmistakable voice laughed insanely. "Guess who's back from Arkam and wants your money!"

"Fuck," Dick sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for the cackling mad man from hell. He gave another quick glance towards Bruce to see a similar feeling oozing over the man's face. Dick blinked; Clark was gone. _Things just kept getting better and better."_Here comes Superman," Dick muttered to himself.

The cackling rose and Dick heard the telltale _whoosh_ of Superman's classic arrival. He sighed and waited, flinching when more concrete exploded around him. He stiffened when he heard something crack and groan. Looking up, he found one of the concrete pillars had been badly compromised. His eyes widened as it bent away from its usual placement.

"Dick!" Bruce yelled, his tone commanding. "Move!"

Dick dove to the side as the pillar gave. A chunk of concrete slammed onto his back causing him to grunt through clenched teeth. Another chunk hit his head. His vision swam but he forced himself to concentrate as he rolled into the bushes. He over shot and nearly tumbled into a fountain. Each time he blinked, more blackness encroached over his vision. He cursed softly and automatically began to search for Bruce. His vision began to blur further and it was all he could do to keep the little party food in his stomach where it belonged.

"Whoopsie daisy!" he heard Joker laugh manically.

"Dick!" he heard Bruce yell. He glanced to the side in time to see another pillar falling...over his prone body. As his eyes widened, he looked Bruce in the eye and felt his hand reach out for the elder man's. Panic raced through Bruce's eyes as he watched.

"Dad," Dick moaned, the darkness swimming over his vision, drowning it almost completely. He felt someone hovering over him, wrapping a strong arm around his chest and leaping away. His eyes caught sight of a red 'S' surrounded by black before he was out.

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><p><strong>If you've already read it, don't review. If haven't I'd love to hear from you.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Murphy's Law kicked in after the notice I gave about re-writing the story. I now have two more people who love the story so now I will have to work even harder to keep them interested. Anyway, Here's the re-write. Please understand, this is the original first chapter divided into three parts so if you read the first chapter, you already know what's happening. I swear, I will let you know when the change kicks in.**

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><p>Superboy paced his room, arms crossed over his broad chest. He continued to pace not caring that his teammates were watching him warily; waiting for him to finally snap and punch a large hole into on of the walls. He slowed when Red Tornado walked through the room only to start up again with renewed vigor when the android continued on his way. Kid Flash rose from the couch and rushed out after the android only to return shaking his head. The adults were still arguing about what to do with them since their little field trip to Gotham.<p>

It had been a try at letting M'Gann and Superboy work on acting human. Superboy was supposedly going to be getting an identity from Batman sooner or later but it wouldn't mean much if he couldn't at least act the part of a 'normal' teenager. From what he could understand, they had all overheard Robin talking to Batman about names. The one that seemed to have stuck was "Conner" and the team had adopted it happily.

The part of getting to Gotham was easy enough with M'Gann's bioship. They had hidden the ship easily and then they went on to walk the darkening streets of the city. The city as not nearly as bad as the news made it seem. It actually had it's own strange charm; one that was easily shattered. It had been ironic to Superboy that it was a laugh that had made everything crash to the ground in pieces - literally. It been a surprise to find Superman in Gotham fighting a clown but the scene had been lost on Superboy.

He was focused on the boy that had been about to be crushed by a pillar.

Sure he was glad to have his super speed finally but he didn't really care about that. He wasn't proud that he'd gotten yelled at by Superman and protected by a normal civilian. Said civilian was later identified as Bruce Wayne. The boy Superboy had saved was Dick Grayson. He was happy Wayne and a woman who dubbed herself Lois Lane had praised him but it didn't really matter since Superman was not pleased in the least.

"Oh for the love of god shut up!" they heard someone bellow.

They all flinched, those who were sitting sinking into the cushions of their seats. Superboy felt his eyebrow lift and he peeked past the door to find Batman had finally shown up with Red Arrow in tow. Red Arrow was sliding away from the group, his domino mask mostly white as he watched Batman grind Superman down a peg – or five.

"Hey Roy," Wally chuckled once the redheaded archer entered the room. "How's it going?"

"What the hell have I missed around here?" Roy hissed as he joined his friends on the couch. "I was in Star City when Batman suddenly showed up and dragged my ass here!"

"Well at least you got the curtsey call from Batman," Artemis growled. "We were yelled at by Superman because we took training into our own hands."

"What'd you do?" Roy asked, his domino mask facing Wally and Kaldur rather than Artemis. The blonde archer glared at him. How dare he ignore _her _after all?

"We went to Gotham to work on acting like normal kids," Wally explained quickly. "Besides M'Gann and Kaldur, only Superboy really needs work in that area," he added softly.

"Superboy," Roy sighed. "The clone of the Man of Steel who has no life besides the one you three forced onto him when you broke him out of Cadmus."

"I can hear you," Superboy muttered as he continued to pace.

He ignored the sighs that came from his teammates. He knew they understood the idle threat in those words and he was far more preoccupied with trying to get an idea of weather or not Batman was pissed off at him as well. The very last thing he wanted was Superman on his case again but Batman on his back was even worse in some ways; Batman was paranoid and one could only guess how much so.

"Look," Roy sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what the hell happened at the moment so someone fill me in. Now."

"It was a simple trip to Gotham. We were even using a name we'd heard Batman and Robin toss around while talking about Superboy," M'Gann explained. "Conner; I think it fits him!"

Red Arrow sent her soft glare through his domino mask. She chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her neck as she slid behind Kaldur. Red Arrow may not have the same version of the "Bat-glare" that Robin had but then again, the elder boy had his own, patented version.

"Anyway," Kaldur stated calmly, "we went to Gotham to at least let Superboy get an idea of what it's like to act 'normal.' We got there during the night, when most people are out in Gotham, and were passing the park when we found ourselves witnessing something…Odd."

"Odd? In Gotham?" Red Arrow asked. "Sorry but you're going to have to elaborate on that. Gotham itself is insane."

"A clown attacked a charity gig," Artemis interjected. "Superman showed up and started trying to stop the clown. Meanwhile, bombs were going off and the clown was shooting a toy gun that propelled 'BANG' flags like bullets."

"Joker huh?" Red Arrow murmured. "Robin's told me about him. That guy's like Batman's ultimate archenemy isn't he? What was Superman doing there?"

"We're of the mind that his secret identity was at the party or in town and ended up just going. Batman never showed up," Wally explained.

"Nor did Robin," Kaldur muttered, worry seeping into his voice like poison leaching into underground waterways. Red Arrow's mask widened slightly as his brows rose. The redheaded archer then glared at the floor.

"After that?" he questioned.

"Superboy saved Dick Grayson from being squashed by a concrete pillar," M'Gann stated with a smile and a giggle. "Bruce Wayne even thanked him."

"Damn," Roy murmured as he glanced at Superboy who was still pacing, stopping his movements long enough to glance down the hall only to start up again and repeat the cycle. "I guess Wayne's not as emotionally stunted as the gossip rags would have you believe huh?"

"Not from what we saw," Kaldur murmured. "Not that it really matters."

"Why not?" Roy asked. "You saved someone right? You helped out right? What's so wrong about doing your job?"

"Besides the fact we weren't even supposed to leave Mount Justice that night and Superman is still being weird when it comes to Superboy?" Artemis questioned smoothly.

"Yeah, as soon as Joker was in custody – which didn't take long by the way – Superman set into busting our butts," Wally complained. "He actually had the gall to chide _us_ for taking _Superboy_ out of the Mount when we didn't have a mission! The only good thing that came out of it was Superboy now has super speed."

"Yeah! He even said we could have gotten people hurt by taking Superboy out into the world!" Artemis scoffed as she let the original topic continue rolling. "I don't know what Superboy did to the guy but I highly doubt it's a good enough excuse for his behavior and words."

"Man, I thought I had it rough as Speedy," Roy sighed. "Dang Superboy you've got it rough! At least our trainers will at least look at us."

"Roy!" Kaldur yelled.

"Forget it," Superboy muttered though his tone gave away his feelings. "He's got a point; a really sharp one too."

"Sorry," Roy murmured. "I still don't get why Batman dragged my ass here though."

"It may have something to do with Robin not showing up a few nights ago despite Joker showing up at a charity event that was well publicized," Wally suggested. "Maybe Robin was on another mission, got hurt, and Bats is asking you – in his own weird way – to help us out until Robin's better?" The speedster sighed when Roy shot him a questioning look. "Yeah, I don't buy it either," he groaned.

"RECOGNIZED, ROBIN, B01," the computer screamed. The room froze, smiles beginning to grow on their faces – all save for Superboy who was looking down the hall to the Main Hall.

"Holy crap," they heard Green Arrow gasp.

"Whoa kid! What happened to you?" they heard Flash ask.

"Joker happened," Robin's voice growled. "I only came to get a file I left behind," he added, his footsteps beginning to echo off the walls of the hallway. Superboy Stiffened as his youngest teammate brushed past him.

Robin was wearing his usual civilian clothes; black jeans, gray jacket, and red hoodie that hid whatever shirt he was wearing and his almost trademark shades. His head was wrapped in bandages and his movements were stiff, like his ribs weren't where they were supposed to be. His jaw was clenched and his breathing was slightly shaky as he moved, like he was trying to not let tears of pain fall from his eyes.

Red Arrow somehow beat Kid Flash from the couch to Robin's side. He stopped Robin by standing in front of the smaller boy and cutting him off every time he tried to slip by. It helped that Robin was obviously not moving as fast as he could be.

"What the hell happened?" Roy growled as Kid Flash skidded to a halt on Robin's right and Kaldur pulled himself to Robin's left. M'Gann and Artemis sidled up behind him, Artemis glaring while M'Gann looked on worriedly.

"Joker happened," the Boy Wonder repeated. "Get out of my way." With each word, his jaw clenched further and further, his words becoming more and more difficult to discern. Red Arrow glared harder at the shorter boy.

"Bull," he snarled. "Spit it out. What happened?"

"What do you care _Speedy_?" Robin hissed. "Why are you even _here_? It can't be because you want into the team so why?"

Roy gritted his teeth and clenched a hand into a fist. Kaldur placed a hand on his shoulder and glanced at Robin like a concerned brother.

"Robin," he began. Robin shot him a glare and he instantly backed off. Robin took the chance to slip past him and disappeared down one of the hallways.

"What is he doing here?" the teens heard Superman question darkly. They felt shivers race up their spines at the sound of the nearly deadly tone Superman – of all people – had just uttered.

"Feel like giving him a reason to not be here?" Batman challenged right back, his tone smirking. "Think about it Superman, he's trained by _me_. When have I let injuries keep me down and out?"

"He's not you Batman," Superman growled. Superboy glanced down the hall, his blue eyes watching worriedly as the other adults slid away from the top two of the Justice League.

"They're at it again," he heard Green Arrow moan.

"When are they not?" Jon asked softly and in a resigned manner. Green Arrow sighed in understanding. The Martian had a point; those two were usually at each other's throats. It wasn't that they hated each other enough to try to kill, it was just they really didn't – couldn't – see eye to eye on some things.

"I never said he was me," Batman returned. "I just said he was trained by me. If you bothered to notice anything about how he acts around me you would notice he's always trying to get my attention; to impress me."

"I have noticed," Superman stated as his blue eyes glared at the Dark Knight. Batman let loose with a condescending laugh that rolled through The Cave and might as well have shaken the ground beneath their feet. Jon, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Flash, Aquaman's eyes all widened and Superboy could sworn he saw Red Tornado flinch.

"Really?" Batman asked condescendingly once he stopped laughing. "You've noticed it huh? Something so subtle?"

"Subtle?" Superman yelled. "There's nothing subtle about it! He's nearly gotten killed god only knows how many times because of it!"

"Compared to Superboy, Robin's subtle."

The sentence hung in the air heavily, sapping the breath from every person's lungs as well as the open space of The Cave's high ceiling. Superman stared at Batman in shock and Batman was smirking evilly, a dark chuckle seeping from his lips.

"As Robin said, you, Mr. Perfect can't compare to a psychotic like me when it comes to family," Batman snarled as he got very close to Superman, his face in the Man of Steel's. Superman's jaw tightened. "The sad thing is; you at least have a blood relation to your kid."

The last bit was said softly enough for only Superman – or someone with super hearing – to hear. Superboy blinked. _What the hell_, he thought. _Robin's not Batman's son? It's like Red Arrow and Green Arrow then? But…they're so…close…in sync. Even I don't have that kind of relationship with Superman and I'm his freaking clone! How are they not related?_

"Back off Batman," Superman growled. Batman smirked again and took a step back.

"Robin had a point you know?" Batman questioned, the smirk never leaving his face. "If you bothered to at least try to get used to him things might get easier; for both of you."

"Enough!" Superman bellowed. "I've told you he's not my problem! He's under your care along with Red Tornado's and Black Canary's!"

"What good is that going to do him when he gets the real powers?" Batman bellowed back without raising his voice a decibel. Superboy felt himself shiver. How could someone yell without raising their voice even the slightest?

"What the hell are you going to do when he gets stronger than he is now?" Batman continued. "What about teaching him about his weaknesses? What are you going to do when he learns that even he can't save someone? What are you going to do if he ends up closing everyone out all because _you_ won't even look at him?"

"Here," Robin stated softly. The teens jumped but managed to not gasp. In Robin's hands was a file that he was holding up to Superboy. The clone took it with a questioning look on his face.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Your name is Conner Kent. You're Clark Kent's sixteen-year-old cousin and you're studying here in Happy Harbor when you're not visiting the folks in Smallville." Robin smirked then. "Or when you're not bogged down with work as Superboy."

Superboy, Conner, blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"Batman and I put together a basic profile for you to base your identity off of. The Kent family – well two out of three of them – are in the loop on it and are fine with it all. It's not the first time they've taken in a special kid," Robin explained. "Besides, you need _someone_ who'll get Clark off his ass when it comes to your training right?" Robin smiled up at his friend before moving to leave the room.

"Thanks for the save by the way," he added, his voice a soft whisper. Superboy heard him loud and clear though. He watched the Boy Wonder trail down the hall, his movements already getting better, and join Batman. He muttered he was ready to go and the Dynamic Duo shot knowing looks at a slightly shell shocked Superman. The two left in amiable silence that could really only be understood by them and them alone.

Conner glanced at the file in his hands then up to Superman. Their eyes met and he sent the man a glowing smile before turning on his heel and heading to his room.

"Thanks Robin," he murmured with a soft laugh.

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><p><strong>If you've already read it, don't review. If haven't I'd love to hear from you.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Murphy's Law kicked in after the notice I gave about re-writing the story. I now have two more people who love the story so now I will have to work even harder to keep them interested. Anyway, Here's the re-write. Please understand, this is the original first chapter divided into three parts so if you read the first chapter, you already know what's happening. I swear, I will let you know when the change kicks in.**

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><p>"Welcome to hell," an annoyingly loud voice laughed in Robin's ear.<p>

He groaned and tried to move only to find his arms tied by vines and held up over his head. He hung suspended over a large, indoor garden and his head was swimming. He felt sweat beading down his face as he panted, his ribs shifting uncomfortably. He wondered what had happened to make them feel that way since it had been months since that one night at Gotham Park when Joker had nearly killed him as Dick Grayson.

He winced as the vines lifted him up further to the skylights and out into the chilled air. Poison Ivy followed on her own little branch that was cushioned by a thick bed of leaves. His eyes took in a few notable towers and he was made aware he was in the heart of Gotham; the Gotham Conservatory's greenhouse. It was almost natural considering the woman who was leering at him with a snide smirk.

"Disgusting isn't it?" Ivy asked coyly. Robin didn't reply. "Think about it, this place was once forest and shrub land until _humans_ destroyed it."

Robin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. At one point, she herself had been one of those most hated humans she was speaking of. If only she hadn't been changed by a freak accident – one of the many that had happened around Batman despite his trying to help the city – she would still be a human who had an unhealthy interest (obsession) with plant life. It was like Joker or Freeze only instead of a failure of a comedian and a man with the power over ice, it was a woman with a power to control plants to do her bidding.

"Poor Robin," she cooed sweetly in his ear making him shiver. He hated this part of his job. "You and your teammates did your best but you should have called Batman while you could. Maybe he and the League could have saved you."

Again Robin remained silent. He had been taught to not speak to his captors unless he had to get information or had to stall them from noticing he was escaping from their binds. However, with his present predicament, he didn't see himself trying to cut the vines with the vivid red haired woman so close to him. There was no way he could get her to look away at the moment and he had a feeling she'd do plenty of talking without any of his help.

"Just think!" Ivy was saying, her speech only being partially taken in by the youth she had tied up. "I'm going to remake this city into what it should be! Plants out of skyscrapers and trees on rooftops! It'll be wonderful!"

_Wonderful_, he thought sarcastically. _In other words, a complete mad house complete with Ivy calling as many shots as she can while opening bank vaults and other usually impenetrable places with the roots and branches of her plants. Yeah…Wonderful._

"I'm going to share it with you my darling boy," she whispered in his ear. He gritted his teeth. Those words never boded well with this woman. "All you have to do is renounce Batman and the Young Justice League."

Robin heard something metal shift and crash away from its resting place somewhere below him. He glanced down, Ivy's burning green eyes doing the same. Superboy dragged himself into a standing position below them, looked around in a slight daze, and then went to digging the others out of their traps – literally. Robin flexed – or tried to flex – his fingers only to find he was tied tighter than usual. Ivy had learned.

"How cute," Ivy cooed as her branch began to circle Robin's hanging form. "So much like the Man himself; helping everyone but not noticing the one in the most danger. Really Robin, why associate with people like him?"

"Rob!" Kid Flash yelled. Robin opened his mouth to yell back only to be gagged by a vine that wrapped around his face and into his mouth, choking him slightly. He watched as Kid Flash raced about like a yellow and red blur only to return to Artemis, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Superboy shaking his head. He wanted to cry but bit back the tears in favor for glaring at the woman before him.

"Really Robin," she whispered softly. Robin saw Superboy flinch. "You should join me. No more being the little burden that no one cares about." Superboy looked up. "I'll make you a king in my new world."

"Robin!" Superboy roared. Robin swung his legs up, bringing his knees to his chest and kicked out at the woman, knocking her off balance slightly. Her green eyes widened as her branch tried to recover until they narrowed at him filled with a deadly fire.

"I tried to give you a choice Robin," she hissed. "You've snubbed it. I meant what I said about sharing it with you but if I can't have you willingly, I'll take you by force." She blew a kiss, a pink mist flowing from her crimson lips and into his face. He coughed, his heart seizing with understanding. He was going to be brainwashed by her mind controlling pheromones.

The next thing he knew, his body wasn't his anymore. He was aware of everything that was happening but there was nothing he could do about it. Ivy was smiling at him with an evil glint in her green eyes, her flaming hair out of place due to his earlier kick. Half her face was obscured by her fiery locks causing her eyes to glow even more with insanity and glee. He tried to scream in rage at her but his mouth and vocal chords wouldn't do anything.

Ivy's leafy bed dropped to the floor of the greenhouse her insane giggles filling the space in no time. The vines on Robins arms loosened and he felt himself dropping until he was caught again by a bed of leaves. It set him on the ground gently and he felt himself look at his friends. They were staring at him with mostly confused eyes. They had no idea about what was happening. How could they? He hadn't told them about Ivy yet.

He saw a flash of understanding in Superboy's eyes. _Oh, right_, he thought. _I've been talking to him more than usual lately since that whole thing with the file. I've even let him read some of the criminal profiles…The profiles!_

Superboy shot at him with inhuman speed causing their teammates to scream at him. Ivy screeched her eyes wide. Superboy's hands were gripping his shoulders and he had him pinned against a metal column. His feet dangled in the air and he wanted to smile at his friend.

"Superboy stop!" Aqualad yelled as he called his water bearers to power in the form of swords. Superboy shot him a glare.

"I know what's happening," he yelled. "I've got him. Get her!"

"Robin!" Ivy screeched. "Take him down now!"

_NO!_ His body was moving though. His feet were against Superboy's chest in a heartbeat and he launched the boy away from him. He fell gracefully to the floor as Superboy slammed into a tree. Robin's head snapped to look at his friends who looked at him with shocked expressions. Superboy roared and shot at Robin again.

"Get her quickly!" he roared before landing a solid punch to Robin's gut.

It wasn't nearly as solid as it could have been but it did the trick. Robin felt air leave his body as he was slammed against the column and pinned there by Superboy's meaty fist. He felt himself move in response as his friends rushed at Ivy. He suddenly felt he had to protect her; even if it cost him his life. He slammed his elbow down onto Superboy's shoulder which fazed the bigger boy slightly. As a clone, Superboy didn't have all of Superman's strength yet but Robin's body already knew that if he wasn't careful, the bigger boy would get him and he wouldn't be able to get up again for a week or three.

He was rushing towards Ivy who was flicking his friends away with her vines. His body pulled his collapsible bow staff from his belt and began to attack when…Superboy returned the hit in stride. Robin felt his body fly to the side and skid against the floor. When his body finally stopped, he felt himself shrug into a standing position. He glanced at his shoulder to find it dislocated at the joint. He switched hands on the staff and charged again.

"Damn it," Superboy growled. "Snap out of it!"

His fist shot out and nailed Robin in the gut again. Robin felt air leave him once more only to forget it when he felt like he was flying. Superboy had thrown him. He managed to land the throw and felt himself stare at his superhuman friend. The raven haired clone was panting but not from exertion from the fight.

No, he was panting from his control levels that were getting shakier and shakier with each hit. He was trying to hold back because it was his friend he was attacking but he wanted to let loose because he knew if he didn't stop Robin's body, they would be in a world of trouble.

"Robin," he whispered softly, regret filling his voice as Robin charged at him again. He caught the staff and used Robin's momentum to vault the boy over his head and onto the concrete flooring. He heard ribs shift as the boy hit the floor but felt more fear race through him when he saw the boy get up again.

"Stop," he begged softly. "Stop it Robin."

"Robin!" Ivy screamed as Artemis nearly hit her. "To me! Quickly!"

Robin shot away despite his injuries. Superboy shot after him, his inhuman speed kicking in and allowing him to circumvent the boy's path. Robin's leg shot out and at his head only to be caught and used as leverage to throw him away again. He hit a tree without so much as a cry of pain or a grunt of anguish and fell to the soft mud at the tree's base.

"Me first," Superboy roared his voice hiding his pain. Only Robin could hear his grief but even then it was only just barely. "You've got to get through me first."

Robin's body shot at his friends again, leaping up and rolling to bring a foot down on the boy's shoulder. He was caught again and tossed aside into a pile of dirt. The dirt softened the blow but did nothing to stop him from getting up again and attacking once more.

_Stop_, he begged his body. _Stop attacking! Stop it!_

Superboy's blue eyes flashed with something dark and hate filled. Robin didn't recognize it for a second until the clone stood straight and took Robin's kick to the chest. He glared at his friend, slight pain lighting his eyes dully for a second as he felt Robin's ankle crack. The Boy Wonder's body fell to the ground and limped away from him, favoring its right ankle. His body wanted to run but it wanted to protect Ivy at the same time. It couldn't move.

"Robin!" Ivy screeched. "Come here now!" Robin's head cocked to the side to look at her and he was about to move when something barreled into him, pinning his arms to his sides.

Superboy held fast to his friends as the boy's body began to struggle and kick and squirm. He kept one arm around his arms and waist while pinning Robin's face to his shoulder with a hand on the back of his head. He shot a dark glare at Ivy who stood in the midst of his downed friends. They lay on their backs, sides, or stomachs and were trying to get up again. The woman's eyes glowed with a tangible fire as she glared back at him.

"Give me my little bird and I will leave this city alone," she cooed; her voice the only sweet thing about her. She lifted a hand to reach out for Robin, a vine shooting to a halt before Superboy. He glared at it and hugged his struggling friend closer.

"No," he snarled. "He's our friend and I'm not giving him over to someone like you."

That fire began to shake and Superboy could have sworn she suddenly burst into flames of pure and unbridled rage. His grip on Robin tightened despite the fact his knew the boy was probably having a hard time breathing. The vine before him slunk back only to shoot forward and wrap around his neck; tightly. As he gagged and tried to rip the thing off of his neck, his blue eyes noticed the fountain not too far away.

Planting his feet, he stood and grabbed Robin's body by the cape. He tossed the boy casually towards the fountain, relaxing slightly when he heard Robin splash into the water. He glared at Ivy with a grin.

"Take that," he laughed. The woman was staring at the fountain dumbfounded only to turn her attention to Superboy in a glare.

"How _dare_ you take my bird from me!" she roared, the flames back and larger than before.

Superboy grunted as he pulled at the vine. He heard splashing followed closely by strangled gasps and choughs. He glanced over to find Robin in the fountain still, leaning against the ring of marble stone and gripping it for dear life with his uninjured arm as he coughed. He felt their eyes meet and nearly glowed with pride when Robin smiled wryly at him.

"Find the fountain…a little…faster next time…huh?" Robin gasped out through coughs. Superboy chuckled.

"Sure thing," he replied as relieved sighs surrounded them. Ivy however looked ready to kill.

"He's mine," she hissed to no one in particular. "He's my little bird and I'm not giving him to people like _you _who will clip his wings!"

Superboy snarled a soft curse as the vine on his neck tightened and his friends were tied to the ground by more plants. Robin grunted as he tried to straighten his posture, water lapping about his shins and knees. Water dribbled form his hair and chin as he panted. His body hurt like hell and felt sluggish.

He instinctively found the small transmitter on his belt that was hooked up to give distress signals if something were to happen. Bruce had even made the thing really strong so Robin would have a better chance of calling him. His fingers brushed over it and he heard the dull beep that declared his message was being transmitted.

It was then that he felt his body jerk back slightly, his stomach screaming out at him in pain. His breath caught in his throat and he could swear he heard M'Gann scream out in pain. He saw her writhing against her bonds, tears streaming down her face along with the shocked looks that graced his friends' faces but he couldn't understand why.

He glanced down as he felt blood pool in his mouth. His eyes widened when he saw the twisted vines sticking out of his torso, blood dribbling down them before falling to the floor. Ivy was smirking when he looked up again but he didn't see her at all.

All he saw was Superboy staring at him, blue eyes filled with fear and worry and palpable rage.

"ROBIN!" he heard someone scream as he fell back into the water of the fountain, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. He felt himself go under the water, his lungs unwilling to hold air in them and he felt himself sink. He found himself hoping Superboy wouldn't do something drastic as he watched the skylights blur through the rippling water.

He felt hands pull him up swiftly suddenly, his eyes barely managing to take in the yellow of Kid Flash's uniform and the red 'X' of M'Gann's uniform. He felt himself being laid on the concrete flooring, their hands falling on his torso, trying to stop the bleeding. He groaned, his breath hitching again as he tried hard to not let them see his pain.

"Superboy stop!" he heard Kaldur yell.

"You'll kill her!" he heard Artemis scream.

His head lolled to the side and he saw Superboy over Ivy, his meaty hands wrapped around her thin throat. Artemis and Kaldur each had one of his arms and were trying, vainly, to pry him off the woman.

Robin instantly understood; Ivy couldn't do anything while losing consciousness and her plants had released his friends, earning himself help. Superboy's jaw was clenched and his eyes might as well have had heat vision. His lips were curled as he snarled at her murderously. 'How dare you,' Robin heard. '…my friend!'

"He's going to kill her," Robin heard Wally whimper to M'Gann. He heard M'Gann wince. Ivy's lips turned blue as her eyes fluttered closed. He could hear her breathing beginning to halt.

"Conner," he rasped, his head leaning up as he tried to get air back into his lungs. Superboy froze, his arms shaking. Blue eyes fell onto Robin's injured figure. Robin gave a weak smile. "She's…not…worth…it….Stop…please."

Conner looked down and threw himself away from the unconscious woman in disgust. Wally gave a sigh of belief.

"Superboy," Wally yelped. "Our hands aren't big enough to stop the bleeding. Help?"

Superboy may as well have used super speed to get to Robin's side. His hands fell uncertainly onto Robin's stomach but not heavily enough. Robin shakily ordered him to put more pressure on it and groaned when he did. Superboy began to lift the pressure only to have Kaldur stop him. The Atlantian shook his head.

"You have to keep constant pressure and it has to be strong or else the bleeding won't stop," he explained. Superboy looked at him and the others anxiously but did as he was told. Robin groaned, his teeth gritting as his breath sputtered. Superboy winced, his eyes fixed on Robin's mask. Robin's head bobbed slightly, a pain filled smile gracing his face.

"Good," he rasped.

* * *

><p>A week passed before Robin came back to Mount Justice. He was fully healed; he had to be. He bounced about the training platform like nothing had happened in a sparing session with Batman himself. The Dark Knight yelled instructions to his student as he and the youth shot kicks, punches, and jabs, leaping into the air or sliding past each other with a rhythmic smoothness. There was nothing Conner could do but watch in awe.<p>

"Again," Wally murmured. "I can't believe he's the youngest of us."

"Man alive," Artemis breathed as Robin twirled from a throw in midair like it was nothing. "He's good; _damn_ good."

"Four years of working in Gotham would make anyone good," M'Gann giggled naively. Kaldur stared at her and sighed at her lack of understanding.

"Only if they have the talent and drive to do so," he said. "Gotham is much rougher than it was the nights we've gone. Ivy should have been proof of that alone." His voice turned bitter as he uttered the fiery haired woman's name.

"Oh," M'Gann murmured softly. "I guess you're right."

"Robin's better," Conner hissed. "Focus on what matters will you?"

They chuckled nervously and let their attentions fall back to Robin and Batman. The pair was finishing up their spar, Robin bowing respectfully to his mentor and Batman nodding curtly. Conner could see the soft smile on his face though. He was proud of Robin and Conner knew it. He still felt like a failure for not getting Robin out of trouble and being the one who gave Robin most of his injuries.

"Good job," Batman said, his tone void of emotions.

"Whatever, my landings are still pulling a bit to the left," Robin muttered as he avoided eye contact with Batman. The Dark Knight chuckled and ruffled his protégé's hair.

"You're fine."

"Yeah right," Robin sighed in a bored manner.

"RECOGNIZED, SUPERMAN, 01," the computer declared.

Superman stormed onto the glowing training platform, his eyes blazing. There was a tangible wave of annoyance that rolled off him in spades. He glared at Batman who remained cool and calm. Robin glanced back and forth between both men before he felt a hand grab his cape and yank him off the platform. He stumbled away managing to turn to look at his would-be savior.

"C-Conner?" he hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you out of smacking range."

"Thanks," Robin chuckled before a soft wince gritting its way through his teeth. Conner looked at him worriedly. "I'm fine. My ribs are still off."

"You're lucky that's all they are," Kaldur hissed.

"Thanks a ton Kaldur," Robin sighed with a soft smile that screamed understanding at Kaldur's concerned and brotherly words. Kaldur wasn't being mean or rude; he was being a big brother figure the only way he knew how.

"You're welcome," he whispered back as Conner released Robin's cape and grabbed his arm. "Since this won't be ending any time soon, I guess we should busy ourselves with something."

"Movie!" Wally called before racing down the hall.

"Yeah," Robin chuckled. "How about _The Godfather_?"

"A gang movie Robin? Really?" Artemis laughed. "I thought you would get enough of that in Gotham City."

"The movie is strangely one of Batman's favorites," Robin smirked.

"No way," Artemis laughed. "No way in hell!"

"Probably because you watch it," Conner murmured. Robin smiled at him.

"No. I get him to watch _It's a Wonderful Life_," Robin explained. "He gets me to watch _The Godfather _movies."

"Hey," Wally whispered as he popped a DVD into the player. "Is Superman angry with us?"

"No," Robin sighed. "He's mad at Batman for not getting there faster." He scoffed. "He has no say though."

"No say?" M'Gann asked. "He's one of the top League members."

"Sure but one, everything's been happening in Batman's city. Two, I've vouched for Conner's actions, you've vouched for his actions, and Batman's vouched for his actions," Robin explained as he counted on his fingers.

He ignored the shocked looks on his teammates' faces. _Batman was vouching for Conner? _That said something.

"Three, Superman's not been allowing himself to bother with Conner, shoving him off on us, Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Batman so," he shrugged, "Conner's more our responsibility than his." He plopped onto the couch with a pleased sigh. "Batman's telling him that now I'm sure about it."

Conner smiled brightly. "Then let's watch a movie!"

The others cheered.

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><p><strong>If you've already read it, don't review. If haven't I'd love to hear from you.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**This was where Watchtower's so-called story was trying to come into focus (and never really did). It's after Conner gets back from Smallville. Again, if you've been following this story, you'll recognize the chapter so you can - and may - ignore it. I swear, I will let you know when the change kicks in.**

* * *

><p>Conner sighed as he fell back onto his bed in Mount Justice, his duffle bag falling to the floor as his fingers loosened their grip on it. A smile was gracing his face as he thought back to the past month he'd spent in Smallville with the Kent Family.<p>

Well, he'd spent the month mainly with Martha Kent since Clark was so busy in Metropolis rather than at home. As a reporter, Clark had his own strange schedule that had to come first. As a superhero, he had yet another schedule to deal with. Balancing both took talent and time to pull off. Conner knew he had a lot to learn.

He'd had so much fun there though. He'd learned a ton about how to act a bit more normal. He was amazing at farm work apparently, Martha saying he was as much a natural as Clark was. Martha had been so glad to have a helping hand around the place too. She'd gotten so much done in one day once she'd explained what he had to do and how it would help him in the long run.

He was going to have more control all because he'd put nails into wood to fix a few steps in a barn? He learned how Clark had spent his days at the same time? Sounded good to him. So what if he had to figure out what the hell an irrigation ditch was for? He could handle that just fine. Martha had been very supportive of it all too. She'd explained it all calmly and patiently and she also laughed companionably when something went wrong – like the fact he accidentally nearly brought down the barn when the sawdust made him sneeze.

There was – _had been_ – a hole in the side of the barn. Martha had chuckled and told him how to fix it. Then Lana Lang showed up to say hello only to see the teenaged version of Clark, the hole in the barn, and a very cheery Martha. After loosing the ability to speak for a while as Lana pointed at Conner with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, Martha was finally able to stop laughing and explain. Connor had been surprised to say the least; who was Lana and how the hell did she know about Clark?

_"Childhood friends," Lana had explained. "I was one of the first to know what Clark could do." She'd chuckled then. "Just so you know, this town has always been a tad weird since the first meteor shower so when I saw you, I thought Clark had been hit with some type of – oh I don't know – ageing ray of some type."_

Conner chuckled at the memory. He'd learned a lot about Clark from Lana as well. There was the fact that Martha wasn't going to explain things about her son that Lana would – like how awkward he was in high school. Conner smirked at how easy it was for him to visualize the image of a bumbling, teenaged, Clark Kent. The fact it came almost automatically only served to prove to Conner that he had plenty to learn on how to act human.

He just didn't plan on making himself look like an idiot while doing it.

"I see you're back," Artemis cooed gently from the doorway. Conner sat up and beamed at her. She looked at him with wide eyes, her mask causing them to look bigger than they – probably – were. He chuckled as he bounded over to her.

"You would not believe how much fun I had," he said before waltzing down the hall.

Artemis snorted softly before following him, a smile on her face. She was extremely glad at how pleased Conner was with himself and his life. It was infinitely better than watching him brood over Superman ignoring him…again. When she managed to catch up to him in the recreation room, he was talking to Kaldur, M'Gann, and…Red Arrow. What was _he_ doing here?

"So this Lana girl is like Superman's best friend who will protect his secret?" Roy asked somewhat skeptically. Conner nodded.

"How is she to you?" Kaldur asked in a brotherly way.

He wasn't being mean really. He was just being…protective. It was kind of understandable. In all respects, Conner was technically the youngest of them all but since he seemed to be more mature than he really was; they were all going to act like he _was_ sixteen years old. Though, there were moments that Conner had his moments as a sixteen week old and they all acted like it was their job to help him through whatever was causing him problems.

Hence the little trip up to Gotham for a practice run at being 'normal' rather than _extra_ordinary.

"She's like…what are the words I want? Uh…she's…a big sister kind of," Conner stated as he scratched his head as he tried to figure out how he wanted to express his feelings. Artemis chuckled and sat down on one of the stools. She and Red Arrow shared a glare and then returned their focus to Conner.

"A big sister? Really?" M'Gann asked. "That sounds great! I'm sure you'll fit right in."

"Thanks," Conner chuckled softly as he scratched the back of his neck. Artemis looked at Red Arrow out of the corner of her eyes and couldn't help but see his scrutinizing look. It was like she was looking at an older – pissier – Robin. A pissier Robin with red hair to boot. She let her eyes fall back to Conner's smiling face. It was nice to see that expression on him.

She found herself hoping Superman would get to see that expression. Then Conner suddenly frowned, his blue eyes sweeping over them.

"Where's Robin?" he asked.

"Probably on a mission with Batman for the past two weeks," Roy murmured. "It wouldn't be the first time they've been held up."

"Yeah," M'Gann stated. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

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><p><strong>If you've already read it, don't review. If haven't I'd love to hear from you.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**This was where Watchtower's so-called story was trying to come into focus (and never really did). It's after Conner gets back from Smallville and Scarecrow is out. **

**Again, if you've been following this story, you'll recognize the chapter so you can - and may - ignore it. **

**I swear, I will let you know when the change kicks in.**

* * *

><p>Bruce Wayne was in a meeting when the Batwave had gone off. Dick Grayson had been in the middle of a test that was crucial for him to pass – one of those ones that made twenty percent of his grade and since he was missing so many days, it was important to save his grade with it. Neither one could have gotten away any sooner than they had and even then; Bruce was beginning to wish he hadn't insisted on going after the recently escaped Scarecrow.<p>

Of course, in hindsight, it was all Bruce's fault in his mind. It had been his decision to go in when they weren't even sure what they may have been dealing with. It was his decision to go in unprepared. It was his responsibility to take care of his protégé. He hadn't done it and now…

He should have expected it. He should have seen Scarecrow would have made a new fear toxin that may possibly have side effects from it that may be fatal if not worse. It had happened too quickly for him to do anything. Scarecrow caused a distraction and the next thing that happened was Dick was being injected with something. Two minutes later, Dick was saying he was seeing things that couldn't possibly be happening. His parents' deaths, his own near one, and the first few weeks as Robin – when things really hadn't gone very well.

"Master Bruce," Alfred sighed calmly. "I must ask you go and get some sleep. He's doing fine. I shall stay up to watch him alright?"

"Fine," Bruce muttered as he turned away from the bed. A soft chorus of beeps and moving oxygen beat at his ears as he walked away, his cape following him. He was wearing his uniform still, the cowl on his back between his shoulder blades. "Take care of him Alfred."

"Of course Master Bruce," he replied. "I shall do everything I can."

"I know," Bruce stated as he stripped from his uniform slowly like his limbs were stiffer than he could imagine. "I know that Alfred. God I should have paid more attention."

"You didn't know Sir."

"Well I should have."

"You couldn't have -," Alfred began.

"I _should_ have!"

There was a moment of utter silence as Bruce's voice bounced off the walls of the cave. The medical equipment beeped on and continued to help Dick breathe as he lay unaware of anything. His eyelids were twitching as he dreamed nightmares thanks to the toxin. Alfred didn't bother speaking for that time as he watched Bruce's stiff back become impossibly stiffer. His movements had stopped and his shirt was halfway off as he ground his teeth.

"I shall call Lucius," Alfred sighed, his tone barely changed from his usual slight irritation but enough for Bruce to feel like he had just been slapped. "Get some sleep."

Bruce stayed silent as he finished changing into the baggy scrubs that had been given to him as a gag gift one Christmas. He'd gotten himself injured badly while Dick had been down with the flu and in return, Dick had gotten him multiple colors of medical scrubs – mainly black ones though how he'd found them, Bruce would probably never be sure on. As his own little gag, he gave Dick the same gift for his following birthday.

Needless to say, the damned things had gotten to be overly useful. Alfred had gently threatened that they would soon need new ones.

"Thank you Alfred," Bruce said, his tone apologetic.

"Right."

There was obviously nothing else to be said and Bruce decided it was possibly better to just leave it alone. He walked up the steps to the clock doorway that led to his mansion. He knew he had to sleep but he didn't feel tired. He was anxious. Someone should answer the door when Lucius showed up right? It was the only right thing to do right? How could he do anything less? Dick was his son and he'd failed in protecting him the way he should have.

_Damn it, the _team_'s been doing better than I have_, he thought ruefully. _Conner at least seems to have bonded with Dick a little. Otherwise, he'd just try to ignore him as the others. Damn it all._

He wasn't paying attention to the time and the series of soft knocks made him jump out of his skin. He growled internally at himself hating himself for being so paranoid. The insane freaks didn't make him nearly this scared. He opened the door to find a slightly shocked Lucius Fox.

"Alfred with him?" he asked.

Bruce nodded and waved the second of his company into his home. Lucius already knew about whom Bruce and Dick were by night – he'd helped Bruce with the vehicles and other assorted toys. Dick, as the kid he was, desired a jet pack of some type to be made – _"It's not fair Bruce gets to chase Firefly down on his own all because _he_ has the jet pack and I don't!"_ had been the somewhat pathetic argument.

Bruce chuckled to himself as he heard the clock door open. He shut the front door as Lucius disappeared into the cave quickly, his medical bag jangling softly with the portable equipment it contained. Dick had always been a soft spot for Bruce and he knew it was going to bite him sooner or later. It always did whenever Dick got hurt even the slightest but Bruce usually never let on that he was bothered. He was fairly sure Dick was slightly scarred from that treatment.

Nothing like being told to 'suck it up' when you've landed badly on a fall or when you've been thrown across a room by a steroid abusing wrestler like Bane to make yourself feel better and more confident.

_"You seriously think that'll make him feel better?" Green Arrow had once chided. "He's what age again? He and his parents were how close? What exactly did he go through to get landed with you again? He gets a broken leg because he is in no way, shape, or form ready to be **your **fucking protégé!"_

_"He's fine," he had replied. "He'll make it through this."_

_"What if he doesn't?" Jon asked his voice flatter than a board and as serious as ever. _

_Bruce had glared at him but not with nearly as much fire as usual. It was apparent Jon noted it when he placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder and looked at him meaningfully. Oliver had blubbered as he tried to refute whatever the look had meant but was quickly shut down by another look._

_"You are going to get reamed when Clark finds out what happened," Oliver managed after he got his voice back. He then left Bruce to Jon which only led to silence._

A silence that Bruce had welcomed back then and was fairly sure he'd welcome it again at the moment. He was so glad that he was alone. He'd had plenty of speeches from Lucius about how much higher his stress levels had become since he'd taken Dick in; as a son and as a student. There was always the fact that Bruce had blamed himself when things had gone wrong when he was on his own – he had no one else to blame. Then, when Dick got hurt, he blamed himself more and more.

It was always possible he'd been too rash in taking Dick in under his wing as a son four years ago but it had all fallen into place so well and there had been no way to stop any of it. Dick had almost literally fallen into his lap when the boy's parents were killed. They had been given an offer for 'protection' from Boss Zucco and of course they reacted the way anyone would have if they didn't live in Gotham City.

Bruce had disappeared in the craziness that soon enveloped the area, his red headed reporter of a date screaming at the easily remembered corrupt cops. She did want them taking the boy with them but couldn't do much other than grab a kid from the crowd and demand he drive after the cop car. Bruce had already made himself into Batman and was trailing them all as they drove out of the city to the ravine corrupt cops used to bury their hidden bodies.

He had swept in, beaten the corrupt cops silly, and grabbed Dick by the collar of his acrobat uniform growling that he now 'owned his ass.' The picture his date had taken had been all over the front pages of every newspaper that could get their grubby hands on it. The next thing Bruce knew, he was telling the police and Social Services that he would take the boy in. What with his great track record and the fact that he wasn't nearly as bad as he could have been as a billionaire, it had been allowed.

The first few weeks passed with him getting Dick into school, getting the boy clothes, arranging the funeral, and searching for the men who'd been responsible. Boss Zucco wasn't exactly the easiest person to track down when he'd decided to lay low but Bruce had managed it. He'd jumped in then too only to be saved by Dick when the boy showed up in his acrobat uniform with an added cape and mask.

He watched as Zucco muttered that he had family too and that it was 'cute.' Dick of course was moving in seconds, face set in annoyance and slight rage. When Zucco asked if his parents had taught him manners, Dick had growled and rushed him only to get hit in the solar plexus and tossed. Zucco followed up with hitting the boy with a juggling club. Bruce ended it before Zucco could do anymore, rage consuming him as he punched Zucco into retreating up to the trapeze.

When he fell, it was Dick who swung in to catch him.

_"Nice save," Bruce stated as they stood outside the circus area watching the police collect Zucco, "but I though you wanted Zucco to get what was coming to him."_

_Dick smiled softly. "Well, he did didn't he? Justice?"_

_The words struck Bruce with amazement. He hadn't been that rational. He'd wanted to shoot the man who killed his parents and he was still slightly burdened by the fact his tormentor hadn't been given justice. He'd wanted to take away that burden from Dick the moment he saw the loving couple fall. He glanced back to the glowing cars._

_"I've been thinking Dick; I don't think Bruce Wayne has what it takes to raise you properly."_

_"Yeah," Dick scoffed gently, his tone almost playful as he caught on. "Kinda noticed he's never around. But if not Bruce Wayne…What about the Batman?" He smiled up at Bruce._

_"We'd have to give you a name," Bruce replied somewhat uneasily as he turned his head further away like he was being bashful. He didn't see Dick look back to the cops before glancing down at his chest where a bright yellow circle encased a black 'R.'_

_"How about…Robin?"_

_"Like the bird?" Bruce asked slightly amazed at the idea. A nocturnal bird? How the hell was **that** going to be explained?_

_"It's a family name!" Dick, Robin, chuckled as he placed his hands on his hips. Bruce smiled inwardly. He knew what Dick was speaking of._

He sighed. Oh how ticked Clark had been with him. It had been idiotic really. Everyone had been so damned worried that he had a sidekick and the next thing he knew, everyone else was getting protégés. He'd nearly beaten them all to a pulp when they all started congratulating each other.

Thank god for Gearhead.

_"What do you think would happen if you were to say…Disappear without a trace," an eleven-year-old Dick Grayson asked as they raced through the streets of Gotham on cycles. Gearhead had managed to cause the utter destruction of the Batmobile – much to Bruce's annoyance – which was now being fixed and was getting a reconfiguration._

_"Where did this come from?" Bruce asked into the headset in his cowl. He heard Dick sigh into his as he revved his bike in irritation. They'd been chasing around for hours without luck._

_"I was just wondering something since one of my teachers asked who was most influential in our lives," came an easy reply. "I said you and Alfred and he then asked me to elaborate. I replied as simply as possible; you took me in and acted as a support when my life literally sucked."_

_"This still doesn't answer my question Dick."_

_"Well…I already know neither of us could manage without Alfred – he's too much of a lynch pin type of person anyway. I think you could handle life without me – you did it for years after all. I don't know how I'd do though. Honest opinion; how do you think I'd handle things if you disappeared into thin air?"_

_Bruce couldn't help but chuckle at his son._

_"Hey! I'm being serious here!"_

_"I think you'd do fine. Alfred will kick your butt in gear if you don't."_

_Robin's typical laughter filled his ears and he smiled. The Batwave suddenly began blaring, giving them a location of Gearhead's most recent spree._

_"Let's get this guy back for damaging the car huh?" Bruce asked, his tone becoming lighter as he joked with his son. Dick laughed._

_"Hell yes!"_

Bruce sighed as he stared out the window to the city, his eyes falling on the cemetery faster than should have been normal. He had a feeling Dick had been wrong about how well he'd deal.

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><p><strong>If you've already read it, don't review. If haven't I'd love to hear from you.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**This was where Watchtower's so-called story was trying to come into focus (and never really did). It's after Conner gets back from Smallville and Scarecrow is out. **

**Again, if you've been following this story, you'll recognize the chapter so you can - and may - ignore it. **

**I swear, I will let you know when the change kicks in though, we are getting close now.**

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><p>"Hey everyone!" Wally cheered as he skidded to a stop in the recreation room.<p>

He posed like he'd just finished a difficult trick and was about to say 'Ta-da,' his face split by the overly huge smile that could only be pulled off by him. Conner looked up from a book Martha had let him borrow from the farm about events in history. Roy looked up from his maps with a soft glare while Artemis, M'Gann, and Kaldur looked up from their game of cards.

"Hey," Conner replied. "How was the trip with Flash?"

"Fine, oddly relaxing," Wally sighed as he flopped onto the couch next to M'Gann. "How was your time on the farm?"

"It was fine," Kaldur explained for Conner. "He learned a lot."

"Thanks Mom," Conner muttered. Roy snorted, his maps rustling as he leaned forward and stifled his laughter. Kaldur had the decency to nod in understanding the fact that he probably deserved the remark. Artemis had a hand over her mouth in slight surprise. M'Gann giggled softly as Kaldur watched Wally try to not fall off the couch.

"Wow Conner," Wally chuckled. "Nice retort!"

Conner smiled and gave as soft a high five as he could to the young Speedster. They chuckled at the others as they stared in amazement and glee. Conner gave them a questioning glance before letting himself fall back to his book.

"How was your trip to Atlantis Kaldur?" Wally asked in his friendly manner.

"I spent time with my King," Kaldur stated, his tone a bit deeper than usual. "I did not go to Atlantis personally."

"Leave that subject alone Wally," Roy warned. "He's been touchy about it since I brought it up yesterday. Thank go Conner was here." The last sentence was spoken softly enough so that only Conner could hear it. He stuck his tongue out at Roy somewhat petulantly which earned him a giggle or two from the girls.

"Uh…" Wally began. Conner nudged him gently and shook his head as he pulled his lips into his mouth. Wally made the same motion and nodded before saying, "Shutting up about it."

"Good," Kaldur sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't wait for Robin to finish up whatever's keeping him in Gotham."

"It is finals season for schools in Gotham," Artemis stated calmly. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the middle of a test right now."

"He's thirteen!" Roy yelled skeptically. "He's in freakin' middle school!"

"Middle schools can have midterms and finals," Artemis countered. Roy scoffed as he continued to flip through maps and other files. Conner had glanced at the files at one point only to find they were on every criminal that wasn't a resident of Gotham.

"Damn it all," Roy muttered.

"What?" M'Gann asked gently.

"I can't find anything on this Scarecrow guy the news claims escaped Arkam a few days ago," he replied as he shifted through the files and maps. Conner felt his body stiffen and he tried to avoid making himself noticeable. Easier said than done.

"Scarecrow and Arkam…" Artemis mused as Kaldur blanched. "Haven't I heard of those names in articles about Gotham?" She shot a scathing look at Roy who shot her one back in spades.

"Yeah and last I checked, that was Batman and Robin's territory," Kaldur stated quickly as he tried to diffuse the problem.

Conner felt himself shrinking into the seat cushions. He didn't like where this was going. The others had asked how he knew what to do when Ivy brainwashed Robin months ago and he'd let it slip that he'd been allowed to read the files. He was beginning to wish he hadn't hidden the damned things in his room. He should have given them back to Robin before he'd gone to Smallville. Robin had already warned him to not get them out of order or damaged.

_"Batman will freaking kill me if anything happens to the files so…Don't get them damaged with liquids, shuffled out of order, and don't – I repeat – **don't** loose any of them!"_

He'd done well so far in those instructions but Robin hadn't said anything about letting the others see them. He wasn't even sure that the others would go by the guidelines that Robin had placed on him so strictly. He had a very strong feeling that it was going to be disastrous if he allowed the others to look into those files.

"Last I checked, Superboy over there knew what Poison Ivy could do with pheromones," Roy snarled, his domino mask narrowed as he glared at Conner. The young clone glared back in spades as he closed his book slowly.

"Leave it alone," he stated as he rose to leave.

"Whoa wait a second here!" Artemis yelped as she leapt up to race in front of Conner. "I know I wasn't the only one who found it weird you knew what to do back then. We never asked how or why you knew but since _Red Arrow_ is interested in Gotham's Scarecrow, I personally think we should know."

"Was that supposed to be a jab?" Red Arrow asked. Artemis glared at him. Kaldur stood slowly from the table to stand between Artemis and Conner.

"She does have a point Conner," the Atlantean stated calmly and rationally. "I'd like to know why Red Arrow's interested in Scarecrow when it's not even his city. However, the fact you may know about the criminals in Gotham means we may have -."

"Get your asses down here!" Batman's voice roared through the hallways.

The entire team shook as they flinched like a bomb had landed in the room. Conner's eyes were slightly wide as he slipped past his teammates and strode for the main hall. He stopped dead when he saw Batman standing on the glowing platform, his arms crossed over his chest, his lips drawn in a thin line as he glared at them all with a murderous intent.

"Hello Batman," Kaldur stated cautiously. He was about to continue when Batman's attention began to rest on him. Wally and Artemis were trembling behind Conner, peeking over his broad shoulders. Artemis and Roy stood still, their backs stiff and their lips pursed.

"Shut up," Batman growled. "I have a mission for you. Stay silent, and I'll explain what you need to do."

They nodded and edged closer to the platform. They were all stiff as they tried to watch Batman as he brought up the screens and began explaining what they would be doing. They were going to Metropolis to do reconnaissance on someone named Lex Luthor. Conner felt his blood tingle at the sound of that name; Martha had explained who _he_ was to Smallville. Once a friend of Clark's who went off a few too many deep ends.

At least he was meeting him while he was already a bad seed and not trying to win friendship.

"All you have to do is go in, get proof there's something wrong or at least suspicious, and get out bringing it to the League so the League can deal with it," Batman growled. The teens nodded and watched the elder hero leave them in a storm of barely restrained fury.

"Wow," Wally whispered after there was a burst of wind. He was suddenly in his yellow uniform and was snapping the goggles onto his forehead. "I've _never _seen him that pissed."

"That's difficult to not refute," Roy muttered. "Since Robin's not here, I'll join in to help you all out. That alright?"

"Sure," Kaldur sighed with a soft smile. "It will be good to work with you again."

"Can we go?" Conner asked as he shoved his friends out of his way. "I want to get this done."

"So we can continue our earlier conversation?' Roy jabbed sarcastically.

"So you can leave sooner."

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><p><strong>If you've already read it, don't review. If haven't I'd love to hear from you.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Those of you of whom read the original - here's the change!**

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><p>"Master Richard?" Alfred's voice chimed strangely. His voice didn't sound right. It sounded like it was doubled…no, tripled. Dick wrinkled his nose in confusion. It wasn't right. Alfred didn't sound like that but only Alfred could sound so…Alfred-like.<p>

"Is he waking up?" Lucius asked, his voice doing the same thing as Alfred's.

Dick really wasn't getting the joke. It didn't make sense to him. Joker didn't even cross the line with screwing with someone's head. Not this way at least. He screwed with you by words. It was Scarecrow who screwed with peoples' heads chemically. Well, sure, Joker screwed with chemicals but that was mainly to make people smile or laugh for overly long periods. It took serious lengths to get Joker to screw with chemicals focused on the brain.

Wait…No it didn't. He'd do that for fun.

_"Wake up," a soft, familiar voice called. Robin's eyes burst open, his heart racing at the familiar sound. It had been years since he'd heard that voice. The problem was, he knew he shouldn't be hearing it where he was; the Batcave. _

_The looming walls of the cave rose above his head like the looming walls of a jail yard. He wondered idly for a moment weather or not this was how the Birdman of Alcatraz felt when he was alone in a jail yard with nothing but his shadow for company._

_Looking about once more, he found he was more alone than he could imagine. The computer, the planes, the cars, the submarines, the museum of crap Batman had collected over the years from his exploits, and the training area of the cave were gone, the clean areas of where they once stood shining like fresh chalk outlines on ebony asphalt. The bed he sat on wasn't even correct._

_Instead of the glowing hospital bed that Bruce kept in the cave for any situation that may arise, Robin found himself sitting on the bed he'd had to himself in his family's trailer. His father had gotten it for him so that Dick wouldn't be quite as tempted to sleep with his loving parents as much as he used to. He'd loved that bed almost as much as he'd loved the act of flying through the air._

_How long had it been since his last practice? _Too long_, he thought._

_"Dick," the calm voice cooed as tan arms wrapped about his small shoulders like he was made of glass and they were made of stone. It was then he realized he was wearing the old yellow pajamas his father had gotten him years ago. In another month, they'd be far too small; they were already short in the legs and arms and the neck was too small for him to button the top button and still be comfortable. "It's time to get up sweetheart," the voice cooed as a smile breathed over his ear._

_"I know Mom," he stated with a strange ease. _

_Some part of him knew this wasn't happening; that it couldn't happen because she wasn't alive anymore. His mother couldn't be holing him close like she used to, he couldn't be wearing the clothes he was because he'd talked Alfred into burning some of them after he'd put on the uniform, and he couldn't be in that trailer because it was in a junk heap. It couldn't be happening. It shouldn't be happening._

_It…wasn't happening._

_"Is my little robin ready to practice his flying today?" _

_He suddenly didn't care._

_His mother's cool voice chimed happily as ebony curls tumbled over her shining eyes and high cheek bones. Despite her slight frame, her hands held a beautifully hidden strength as she squeezed his shoulders. He knew that he had more if his mother in him than his father considering his small frame rather than a large, muscle bound one like his father's. He didn't mind though; he had his father's eerie grace as well as his mother's hidden strength._

_"Yeah," he laughed, about to leap from the bed when something held him down. It wasn't his mother's hands holding him; they were too big and rough for that._

"Wait a moment Master Richard," a distorted voice chimed.

"Stay still Dick!" another yelped.

_The voices meant absolutely nothing to him at that moment though. His father entered the trailer smiling gleefully as he weaved over to his son._

_"Look who's up! Finally!"he laughed with a booming voice. _

_Dick smiled gleefully, leaping out of bed and playfully punching at his father. A few hits connected but he knew he didn't have any real power to take down his big father. He could never hurt his family anyway – though…those hits felt like hit home a little too well._

_"Let's go Dad!" he yelled as he charged out of the trailer, his small body weaving past the larger man with aforesaid grace and agility picking up a towel as he went and tossing it onto his shoulder. The man laughed, his face resembling Bruce's smiling one for an intangible second. Dick ignored it though; this was before Bruce was part of his life. This was before Zucco killed his family._

_This was a safe place to be._

_"I wanna practice!" Dick called back as he nearly bolted out of the trailer. His father caught his shoulder, his hand firm and bigger than Dick remembered. He turned to find Bruce holding him, cowl flopped on his back a like a hood, blue eyes terrified as he looked on his son._

_Dick was suddenly in his Robin uniform again, the mask on his face once more but something told him it wasn't supposed to be. He'd been on the gurney. He wouldn't have been wearing the mask on the gurney unless one of the unaware League members were present. He could however remember that there was no way in hell that Bruce would have let someone be around when any of them were injured – except Superman but he would bust down the walls if he wanted to get in._

"Dick…" Bruce breathed, his voice trembling a bit as he stared down at his son. "What are you doing out of bed?" He had to act natural, like Dick was just sick. In his hand was the file on Luthor that he'd been building for the past two weeks. He'd gotten back an hour ago and Lucius had told him to get some rest while he worked up an antidote.

He'd only gotten up from his desk in the nearby study when he'd heard Alfred and Lucius' panicked voices floated up the stairs through the door he'd left open to make sure he would miss nothing. He'd barely heard Dick's one-sided conversation until he'd made it down the steps to find Robin putting on his mask and saying he wanted to practice. However, he'd been more worried about the word that had preceded.

Dad…

In any other connotation, any other situation, Bruce would have thought (happily) that Dick was speaking to him. At the moment however, Dick was under Scarecrow's newest creation, Alfred and Lucius lay sprawled on the floor, and Dick wasn't moving the way Bruce would have expected him to go for a practice drill or three. He was moving with the natural grace that Bruce had found him to have seemingly been born with.

"You said I could practice without the net today Dad," Dick said.

Bruce hadn't really expected to hear that.

"Change of plan," he murmured softly, trying hard to stay calm. "You've got a fever Dick. You need to rest." Going for good measure, he placed the back of his other hand on Dick's warm forehead – inwardly wincing at the heat that edged through his glove.

"But Dad," Dick whined petulantly.

"No," he said. "I don't want you to get hurt because you can't focus.

"But I want to fly like you and Mom," Dick replied. "I want to feel gravity pulling on my limbs as I spin in the air and feel the surge of confidence when I grab the trapeze with just my feet as I swing over the crowd. If I don't practice…"

Bruce cut him off, "There's always tomorrow Dick. First, you need to get better. No need to scare your mother right?"

Dick stared at him for a moment and he watched in horror as something in the pleading expression changed to fear. He was about to open his mouth to ask what Dick was seeing when Dick's right hook nailed him in the jaw; hard.

_Dick didn't know what the creature was or how his father had turned into it. All he knew was that he was scared of the leathery wings that stretched from its back and the sharp fangs in its strangely formed mouth. It was some sort of bat mixed with a person – if there were such a thing as a werebat, this would be it. He didn't know where the punch had come from but it had worked; it'd tumbled away from him, dropping the papers in its clawed hand._

_He bent to pick up the papers noticing a face he'd seen in his travels before – Lex Luthor, a rich guy with questionable interests. He knew from rumors that Luthor supposedly had a problem with Superman and carried the Man of Steel's weakness with him at all times._

_The names on the mission docket however caught his attention quickly. He knew something of the names but something about the name _Superboy _made him shiver. If this Superboy was anything like Superman…he couldn't be near Luthor. He wasn't sure why but he felt he had to get to Metropolis as of yesterday. He stumbled to the cycle he somehow knew to be his and raced down the freeway to the city he knew was like a diluted version of Gotham._

_"Dick?" he mother called from the trapeze landing. His father was next to her and both were smiling widely, their teeth shining eerily. "Ready to fly honey?"_

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><p><strong>If you've already read it, don't review. If haven't I'd love to hear from you.<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Those of you of whom read the original - here's the change!**

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><p>Kaldur and M'Gann wobbled as they helped Artemis and Wally try to stand. Red Arrow was panting next to them, his hands on his knees. He gritted his teeth and glared at the large robots that were edging towards them. They were almost spider-like in design for at least the four legs. The thing was armed to the teeth and non of them could find a weakness to it.<p>

"This is great," Red Arrow muttered. "We've been whacked across the room multiple times and these things are still multiplying even though they have no reason to."

"And Superboy is off after Luthor," Artemis muttered as she tried to hold herself up. Her injured leg twitched and gave out on her. "Ouch."

"Luthor's been known to carry Kryptonite with him too," Aqualad sighed as he let Wally slump pitifully to the floor, a hand on his head. "Ears still ringing?" Wally nodded weakly. "Keep your hand there then."

He did as he was told as Kaldur helped keep pressure on the small wound. He was still surprised by the fact that head wounds, no matter how small, on humans would bleed profusely; like fountains that never turned off. There was nothing wrong with unending fountains of water but he couldn't really get over the fact that it was blood he was seeing do it.

"There has to a weakness on these things!" M'Gann almost wailed. "They can't be indestructible! Think what that would mean for the League!"

"Think what that means for us," Roy growled.

Kaldur tried to not sigh again at the attitudes of his teammates. Sometimes, it was very difficult to believe they could get along. Roy hated the idea of being glorified sidekicks. He refused to be a real part of the team because of that. Robin and Wally were alright with the whole idea since they had worked they're asses off to get where they'd gotten; though yes, they'd been about as unhappy about how things had almost turned for them on the fourth of July. However, Roy had been the only one to walk away from it.

He had gone solo and even then, he didn't know how to work alone. He didn't know how to work with a team either. Robin wasn't very good with it either considering he had more training and could be counted as competent on his own. Wally…he wasn't as serious on some things as Kaldur would have liked but he still had loyalty to friends. He was probably the most adaptable of them all too considering.

"We're screwed," Wally mumbled softly, the look on his face clearly saying he had hoped no one would hear him say it. Kaldur however was close enough to hear him and gave him a soft glare. Wally had enough tact to look abashed. Artemis had heard him too but she'd looked up as if to plead to a god to give her patience.

"Maybe not," she whispered as a dark figure dropped from the rafters, cape fluttering like the wind itself through sheets. She recognized the movements of a sharpened escrima stick as it stabbed downward into the head of one of the robots. The small body on the other end shot towards the ground, its weight lifting the robot's head into the air with a wrenching noise.

A soft tap of well insulated boots reached their ears as the cape fluttered down around the small frame of their youngest member. Roy was happy to see his old friend without bandages on him again – god knew he wasn't the only one who felt Robin was too young to be in this business. He worked in Gotham too. Something was wrong with anyone who wanted to save that town which was probably what accounted for the insanity of the criminals.

"Found the weakness," Artemis muttered softly as she managed to hold herself up and pull her bow taught.

As she did, M'Gann kept a reassuringly firm hand on her lower back to just allow her to know she had a person to help her out should she need it. The Martian's other hand however rose in a slight warning before three heads popped into the air. Artemis' bow let off a _twang_ as she released it. Another head snapped off its base followed quickly by another two as Kaldur and Roy attacked with a strange ease.

Robin glanced over his shoulder at them, his lips moving as he counted. He had the right number but he didn't see the right face. He glanced about to see a staircase that he could get to easily…if his vision would stop swimming for two seconds that is. His lungs were heaving from climbing up the roof of the garage and he had a feeling that ditching the cycle outside wasn't the greatest idea but his was far more panicked about Conner.

Luthor…he'd have that rock on him. Robin had to get to him before he hurt his teammate. He didn't want to loose any more people he cared about.

_"Dick, honey?" his mother called, her voice floating down the steps. "Come on sweetheart. You're doing well."_

_"You're close to flying Son," his father called._

"I know," he breathed. The somewhat conscious part of his brain managed to tell him to say they should call Batman. That same part of his mind already told him that the cycle he'd taken had a tracker in it. Besides…whatever the hell these spider things were, they creeped him out and he wanted to get away from them.

"Robin?" Kaldur called after the boy as he raced past the robots and up the stairs. The boy didn't even turn to look at who called him. The Atlantean watched his disappearing figure with concern until Roy snapped at him to pay attention.

"The faster we take these things out, the faster we get to Robin and Superboy," Roy rationalized. "We have to get past these things!"

"I know," Kaldur sighed as he lifted a hand to his ear. He may as well tell Batman he'd been right that something was wrong with Luthor's new toys. Bruce Wayne had been right to not want anything to do with the possibility of weapons.

However, as soon as Batman's aggravated growl reached his ears, Kaldur knew something else had gone wrong.

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><p>"The problem with trying so hard to protect the world is that there's always someone you have to worry about stopping you," the bald man was saying.<p>

Conner couldn't really pay attention to him, his ears ringing loudly as his lungs seemed to collapse and twisted at the same time. He tried hard to breathe as he tried to crawl away from the glowing, green rock in the man's hands. Of course, the man stayed close after each movement. He tried to focus as his vision blurred and his stomach twisted in tighter and tighter knots. He felt like he was being ripped apart by four horses going in different directions while also being crushed into a cube.

"Superman had many chances to be on my side of things," Lex stated as he knelt closer. "It would have worked out well for both of us; I'd seen what he could do to my own, hand designed weapons bare handed. I really could have used a body guard like that on my side. The problem is, his little morals got in the way."

"T-that…" Conner gasped as he tried to glare. "R-rock…"

"I know very damned well what it does to the original Superman…I'm glad to see it works on you as well," Lex smirked. "Count on Cadmus to do well in making a perfect clone. The personality however…Well, I guess it does take a certain – lifestyle or whatever to get that outlook on life." The rock got closer and glowed brighter. Conner gritted his teeth as he tried to scream, his throat closing in on itself. "You were in a pod for how long again?"

"Y-you…h-have a t-tie th-there?"

"No; I have my fingers in multiple pockets. I'm up on quite a few things."

Conner's gritted teeth began to grind as he watched that rock edge back and forth, the man's smirk getting wider as he watched what happened as sweat began to sting his eyes. That damned rock had to go and it had to go now.

"G-get…it a-away," Conner heard himself moan.

He barely saw Lex smirk before an escrima stick slammed into his head. The green glow flew across the room; Conner could feel feeling begin to creep back into his appendages. His vision began to clear as he struggled to sit up even a little. He blinked as nausea edged through his body. He watched a red and black blur beating the pulp out of Lex deftly; almost like it was automatically acting on mechanical reflex.

Like it really wanted to beat the living shit out of the guy under him.

A loud thud reached Conner's ears and he glanced back up to find Robin standing over Luthor panting like a dog, legs wobbling to the point where they barely held him up, cheeks pick from something Conner couldn't place, and translucently pale.

"You don't look so good Boy Wonder," an injured Lex Luthor chuckled painfully. Robin didn't reply with more than a weak glare. Sweat beaded his brow as he panted, his head lolling back and forth slowly as if he were finally taking in the room. "Did the little bird lose its way?"

_That_ earned him a dark glare.

"Robin," Conner winced as he pushed himself up. He stumbled over, his blue eyes searching out the Kryptonite instinctively. "The guy's messing with you," he lied before pressing the man's neck firmly causing him to fall unconscious. It wasn't as if the injuries weren't going to make him go under all by themselves but Conner wanted to actually beat the shit out of the man himself for having a power over him.

"Conner?" Robin asked, sounding confused.

"That stuff's still in the room…" Conner grunted as he stumbled toward the door. "I think I want to go sleep for a month."

"Conner…how'd I get here?"

Conner froze and glanced over his shoulder to glare at Robin confusedly. Robin was looking at him, his domino mask almost all white. The youth continued to pant heavily, his cheeks bright red and pale at the same time. Conner gestured for him to come closer only to be forced to catch him when he tripped on his own feet.

"You feel…hot," Conner grunted.

"I don't feel it," Robin muttered, his legs giving out. Conner groaned as his own legs refused to allow him to hold two people up. He glared at the green rock as he dragged both of them to a wall so he could have his back supported as he let Robin use him as a pillow.

"You…don't feel how warm you are?" he asked as he set the back of Robin's head on his shoulder, a hand on his forehead. "You feel warm to me."

"No…I feel…tired though," Robin panted. "You make a good pillow Con."

"Get some rest," Conner growled. "No human should be this warm."

"Remember the files?"

"Sleep!"

"I…The last thing I remember…clearly…Scarecrow got me with…something." Conner stiffened. "I was in the cave…in Gotham…then…I'm here. I…don't…know how."

"Sleep Robin, before I knock you out," Conner growled. It didn't sound as threatening as he would have liked but then again, that rock was still there. "You need rest."

"M'kay," Robin slurred as he fell asleep.

"Good…" Conner breathed as he held his friend close, the heat almost relaxing if it weren't so much and coming from such a small body.

He couldn't tell how much time passed before Robin was sweating heavily and began shivering. Conner glared at the rock again, his own body feeling like it was being ripped apart as he waited for help. He was about to give up and just resigned himself to letting the effects of the Kryptonite hit him when he was suddenly surrounded by black with blue highlights.

"When did the fever break?"Batman's gravely voice demanded as he took Robin's limp head into his large hands.

Conner shrugged and shook his head, noting how the movement had improved slightly. He searched for the green glow only to find the room bathed in moonlight and fluorescents. He screwed his face up in confusion.

"Kid Flash has already taken the Kryptonite somewhere. If he bothers to do as I asked, he'll get it sealed in lead and send it to me later so I can find it a safe place – if Clark burns all the Kryptonite on earth I won't be able to…Answer my question!"

"A while ago…the Kryptonite stuff was messing with me."

"It does that. Avoid other colors of it." Batman suddenly cussed as he dug at his utility belt to pull a syringe from it. "Please work," he muttered before biting the cap of the syringe off and then stabbing it into Robin chest. "Hold him."

Conner was about to ask what he meant when Robin's domino mask flashed from mostly black to mostly white; and he started screaming. His back arched and Conner's arms gripped him gently; well as gently as he could. Batman grabbed robin's legs and held them still as he watched his protégé scream and writhe. Robin clawed at Conner's arms leaving pathetic, red welts.

"What did you just do?" Conner roared.

"He left the cave before a real antidote could be made," Batman explained. "I've just given him the best thing I have which was made from what little blood I had to use to make it."

"He's screaming like someone's killing him slowly!"

The screaming suddenly ceased as Robin's vocal chords finally gave out and he slumped back into Conner's torso, panting. Batman cupped Robin's face gently and brushed the boy's sweat soaked hair from his brow and he gazed at him worriedly. Up close, Conner could finally see the stubble that was growing on the man's chin, growing thicker than it usually may have. When had he last shaved?

Looking closer, he began to see the beginnings of a bruise on Batman's left jaw as well, the bruise similar in shape to Robin's tiny fist. He remembered a bit about what he'd read on Scarecrow though, he'd never expected it to be strong enough to get Robin to punch his mentor in the jaw. This fear toxin must have been strong to get her to that.

"Robin," Batman hissed gently as he shook the boy's chin softly.

Conner couldn't help but notice that Batman's hands were a bit bigger than his own but still smaller than Superman's. It was like watching himself hold Robin as he watched the boy's face be almost swallowed by Batman's hands.

"Come on! Talk to me." Conner's breathing hitched at the almost desperate sound that strangled Batman's voice as he tried to revive his student. "Come one Robin. Wake up."

"You…sound scared," Robin mumbled. "It…sounds…wrong."

Batman hung his head as he stifled a laugh. Conner felt his arms release Robin as Batman pulled him close. He swallowed the bile that made him want to hurl. The relief that his friend was alright should have been overwhelming any other feeling but…As easily as he could see Martha Kent and Lana Lang taking him in as family, he could never see _Clark_ acting the way Batman did around Robin around _him_.

"I'm leaving," Conner muttered softly before stumbling out. He made it down the steps only to run into the team and their mentors – complete with Superman. He couldn't help but glare at the original Kryptonian. The man blinked in amazement and confusion but before he could say anything, Conner was striding for M'Gann's bioship.

"I'm not asking what happened," Wally grunted as he rolled a lead shielded container around in his hands. Flash was eyeing his nephew's hands carefully, making sure he didn't drop it. Batman had reamed him on doing that before after all.

"Like I'd tell you," Conner hissed over his shoulder. "Robin's fine by the way."

"You're going home," Batman's voice commanded as he entered the area. Conner could hear the sharp intakes of air as he stomped on. He could only guess Batman was carrying Robin like an injured child – like he was.

"What -?" Kaldur began, Aquaman almost echoing him.

"Later," Batman Stated Calmly. "I need him to actually sleep this off so don't expect me to call for a while."

Conner hopped into the bioship, turning to glare at the slightly disappointing expressions on their faces. In Batman's arms was a panting and shaking Robin who looked small and vulnerable. Conner sobered slightly at the sight but instantly returned to being stubborn when Superman glanced at him.

"Fine," Clark stated. "Get him taken care of and then explain what the hell happened."

Batman scoffed at him and strode off to get Robin to the safety of their cave in Gotham. Superboy watched, his eyes softening in their malice as he followed the Dark Knight's movements. He missed Clark noticing it and storing it away.

"Go home," Clark commanded the teens. "Go home and rest up. You've had one hell of a day. Sleep it off."

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><p><strong>If you've already read it, don't review. If haven't I'd love to hear from you.<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Not sure how this went...Some of this was stream of consiousness.**

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><p>It took Robin a couple weeks to gather up the courage to go back to the cave after he recovered from the toxin. Bruce had filled him in on the amazing – albeit – quick beating he'd given Alfred and Lucius when he ran off. He'd been a little abashed at the whole Idea that he'd attacked his own family members even though all of them stated that it wasn't his whole fault.<p>

They'd spent a day or two talking about what he'd seen – envisioned – with the toxin's help. He hadn't wanted to talk about it considering what he'd seen and heard – the looks on Bruce's face as he'd explained it only gave his reasons more standing. Alfred, he knew, had listened in. The look on his face when Bruce had left to do something was proof enough. Robin was glad Lucius had left before it all happened.

He was still thanking whatever god there was that it was flu season at school allowing him a perfect reason to stay at home for a few days. It had been more than enough time to talk to his father about his screwed up head's entreaties and also sleep off the last of the toxin's bitter grips. It also gave him a bit of time to catch up on homework and work on some of his flips and other fighting skills.

Needless to say though, stepping back into the Cave only to be greeted by a worried looking Kaldur didn't really help his confidence levels. Silver eyes gazed at him with relief and sorrow as he stood at the transporter mat for a moment wondering what to do.

Kaldur, naturally, breaks the silence.

"How are you feeling Friend?"

Robin frowns mentally at the tone of voice the elder boy gives him – fatherly, big brother, protectively, pitying. He hated hearing that tone from people. Even Alfred never gave him that tone. Outwardly, however, he smiled kindly at his teammate and spread his arms out to his sides before turning in a circle.

"Perfectly fine," he chuckled as he came to a halt, his hands clapping back to his sides. "It's a good thing it's flu season at school. I had a good excuse to use."

Kaldur nodded with a relieved smile on his face. It didn't take very long for Robin to realize that he'd passed a test; weather or not he should be watched over like he was the delicate piece of glass in the group. He'd just proved he wasn't as tough as Superboy but he was still tough for a human. As long as that fact held, he'd probably be fine.

"That's good to hear My Friend," Kaldur states back before the teleport whirs back into action.

"RECOGNIZED, KID FLASH, B03," the computer yelled. "RECOGNIZED, ARTEMIS, B07."

The speedster was sighing and scratching his head as he entered, glaring over his shoulder at the young archer behind him who looked about as tired as Robin felt. She sent Wally a glare as well, hers holding a little more power than his. Robin smirked softly when both of them stuck their tongues out at each other and turned to find the youngest member of the team standing in full gear, smiling at them ruefully.

"Rob!" Wally yelled out first, eyes shining with glee as he tackled the boy in a hug. Robin chuckled – glad that he would get at least one normal reaction for someone – and hugged the taller boy back as well as he could with pinned arms.

"Easy KF," Artemis chided. "You'll suffocate him if you hug him too hard." Robin managed to glance past Wally's shoulder to see Artemis scowling slightly at the speedster's back. Something told him she wanted to hug him too but her personality wouldn't allow her to do it first no matter how much she wanted to.

"No offense to Conner, but I doubt I could really crush Robin like he very well could," Wally growled back as he hugged his friend tighter.

"You're lucky he's with M'Gann at the moment," Kaldur sighed with a roll of his silver eyes. Robin found himself wondering if Artemis was beginning to rub off on the stoic Atlantean for him to do that very human gesture.

"Where are they?" Artemis asked as she slid past Wally, her boots clicking against the floors.

"M'Gann is a cheerleader at her school remember?" Robin chuckled as he pried himself free from Wally's strangely possessive grip. In some ways, Robin thought, Wally seemed to act more like the protective brother that Kaldur was – however, he was the annoying one.

"Really?" Wally murmured softly – like he was in awe – as his eyes bugged. Robin nodded. "So…did Conner go out for the football team?"

Robin nearly winced aloud at the idea of Conner in football padding and tackling people down. It didn't matter what Clark said about his high school days as a football player – Robin couldn't think of Conner in any kind of contact sport without hearing bones breaking in the distance. Clark had admitted it had taken forever to talk his parents into allowing him to go out for the team and Robin knew which Super had more control at the age of sixteen.

Kaldur and Artemis however, didn't hold back the winces. They apparently thought the same way Robin did on that whole possibility. Robin could see Conner in the uniform sure but he still heard legs being broken. He had a feeling the other two could as well.

"I sure hope not," Artemis murmured. "Do we even know if he has control over the super speed yet?"

"Not to mention the super strength," Kaldur muttered softly.

Wally shared their wince. He'd put two and two together and could hear the snap of calcium and marrow in his head already.

"RECOGNIZED, SUPERBOY, B04. RECOGNIZED, MISS MARTIAN, B05," the computer chirped. Robin tried to brace for impact but M'Gann was stronger than she looked.

"ROBIN!" she cheered as she flew over to wrap her arms around his shoulders. "You're back!"

"Yes Miss M. I'm back and you've knocked me off balance," Robin mumbled. "And Wally's already tried to strangle me with a hug so no offense but…" He allowed the sentence to hang in the air until she gave a soft 'yeep' and released him.

"Sorry," she said sweetly, her face apologetic.

"Blame Wally," Robin chuckled kindly.

Wally gaped at him but the expression disappeared as Robin sent him a kind smile. He smiled back and shrugged the exchange off – it was always surprising how easily Robin could coerce a reaction with a simple smile. Maybe Bruce had rubbed off on him more than he thought.

"It is good to see you back," Kaldur announced easily as he squeezed Robin's shoulder. "I do believe however, that we will need to get prepared for training lesson with Black Canary. Captain Marvel is threatening to show up as well."

Robin wasn't able to stop himself from sighing painfully. He was a bit tired of the overly childish League member who'd been a 'den mother' for them after the Reds craziness. Speaking of, Robin was wondering where Conner had stashed Wolf and the Sphere for the past few weeks. Maybe they were with someone – the guys from the Sphere's home planet maybe.

"Wolf and Sphere will be happy to see you back," Conner's deep, rumbling voice murmured as he passed Robin by to head off to his room for his Superboy shirt. Robin smiled and simply nodded thinking he'd be able to see both later.

"Cool," Robin chuckled. "I haven't seen them in a while. How are they?"

"They hung out with Red Tornado for a little while," Conner explained as he halted. He managed to ignore the fact that the others glanced back at them with glad smiles. He knew well enough how they al had expected him to act over the last few weeks. He also knew that he hadn't acted scarred from the experience let alone like it had affected him. Then again, when he'd felt he was going to blow up; he'd gone to hang out with Canary alone. "He wanted to help run a few more tests on Wolf's blood – see if the venom stuff is having any other effects."

"Sounds good to me; last thing we want is one of ours getting sick huh?"

Conner gave him a strange look then.

"What'd I say?" Robin asked, his eyes quickly flashing over the room to find he was indeed alone with the clone.

"Yes," Conner stated. "Very last thing I want is one of you getting hurt."

_I didn't say hurt_, Robin thought worriedly as Conner continued to give him that weird look. It was like he was seeing Bruce looking over him gently but worriedly only it was going through Clark's face instead. It was Clark giving him the look that was reserved for shitty situations in which no adult in their right mind would want a kid present.

He didn't like the look on Conner.

"Stop looking at me like that," he growled as he moved past the taller boy to work on a pre-programmed drill on the training platform. A solid hand snatched at his small arm and dragged him back to stand, on his toes, next to Conner.

"You're sure you're alright to be back after that?" Conner asked, tone soft and his hand strangely gentle as it held Robin slightly off the floor. There was no bruising power in that grip, just a firm hold that Robin suddenly didn't really want to get out of. His thoughts flashed to his father, Bruce, Alfred, Lucius, and – yes – Clark.

"Yes," Robin breathed softly as Conner stared at him. He watched as the clone's blue eyes narrowed but felt that hand set him onto flat feet before it slipped away. Robin watched, a bit shocked, as Conner walked away.

"Liar," he heard the clone mutter as he strode through the door down the hall to his room.

"How would you know?' Robin muttered a bit bitterly. "I am."

The last bit sounded more petulant than he thought it would and he mentally cursed himself for it. Even to Bruce, he hadn't admitted that the nightmares he'd always had since that day had seemingly gotten worse than usual. They were…more vivid. Almost tactile in some ways. He continually found himself remembering when Bruce had thought he was going to die when a certain event happened – Clark did too considering he'd been hit with Kryptonite dust when he'd tried to tell Bruce that Dick was fine but Bruce couldn't see him and reacted.

He still wasn't sure if it was the test thing Bruce had helped out in as Batman or if it was Scarecrow's toxin stuff. It had been years ago so god only knew what exactly had happened. It never really had been all that clear.

Not that it mattered at the moment. Bruce had gotten past it, he'd gotten past it, and that was far more scarring than the most recent event. Yes, far more scarring than Scarecrow making him relive his past recently; shit tons more terrifying.

_Liar_, Conner's voice echoed in his head.

_Crap…_

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><p>Conner was fairly sure he shouldn't have said anything. It had been that strange edginess that seemed to cling to Robin – that the young clone had noticed wasn't nearly as terrifying as Batman's own edginess. He'd felt it after the Reds when Conner had yelled at Kaldur for not telling them he thought there might be a mole. Something however, had felt different once he'd seen Robin standing amongst friends.<p>

Despite it being Robin, Conner couldn't help but realize that the young boy wasn't acting like himself. M'Gann always gave him hugs lately and he'd simply gone through the automatic – human – response; he'd hug back as he laughed. It was almost natural to see Robin allowing people to hug him or pat his shoulders. Sure, Robin seemed almost unable to let people to get close but he let them in more than Batman did – Conner could tell that much.

This time however, Robin seemed unwilling to be hugged. Even Conner couldn't shrug off the fact that Robin seemed to not want to be touched. M'Gann and Wally were already whispering about it.

"I didn't hug him that tightly," Wally claimed.

"I'm sure it's just the stress," M'Gann replied softly. Conner couldn't stop himself from hearing the uncertainty in her quiet reply.

"Right," Wally whispered back.

"There you all are," Canary called happily from the platform. Her cheeks were flushed, her chest heaving slightly as she panted softly, but she was waving happily at them. Robin was standing nearby, hunched over with his hands on his knees as he panted a bit. Conner stiffened a bit at the sight of his friend huffing so hard and he moved over to the boy's side quickly.

"You alright?" Conner asked, a hand straying naturally to Robin's shoulder. The boy shrugged it off quickly.

"I'm fine Conner," he ground out. "Thanks for the session Canary."

"You've improved again," she laughed. "Feel free to stay and observe. Conner, since you're already up here…" Her sentence hung in the air almost dangerously as her eyes seemed to narrow at Robin's actions.

"Alright," Conner replied as Robin stomped off the platform to perch himself on one of the outcroppings around the room. He almost seemed unwilling to talk to anyone at the moment though Conner couldn't glean why.

"Alright, Attention to your opponent Conner," Canary called gently like the den mother she was. His blue eyes shot to her form as he fell into position almost naturally. She smiled proudly at him before darting towards him.

He had to admit; she was fast. Really fast. For a human at least. Though, truth be told, her sonic screech was anything but human and so was her endurance. Maybe it was the fact that Conner was probably only half Super that made her a bit more daunting. Maybe it was the fact he was technically only a year or so old – he'd actually lost track. Or maybe, it was because she seemed to do what Batman and Robin did; look at you and automatically know everything she needed to know to get to you.

She'd kicked his butt the first – thirdish? – day in and she'd brushed it off as if she could do the same to Superman and not bat an eye. He wasn't sure if there wasn't a possibility that she had done it either which only made her more terrifying.

He dodged punches and kicks, edging a few of his own – controlled – ones back into the fray of her quick attacks. He made sure to keep her upright knowing if she got the chance to take out his feet, she'd take it. He knew she would. He'd felt her do it.

"Good movements Conner," he heard her chime at him. He nodded curtly, his eyes still fixed on her torso and elbows. There was no way he wanted to miss a possible hit she may try to give him. He'd done that before. He didn't want to let her get the chance again.

Apparently, that wasn't going to happen.

Canary's fist shot out at his head. He managed to dodge but that took his eyes off her legs and he only realized it when her leg connected with his stomach and sent him flying back. The computer bleeped that he'd lost almost laughingly. He sighed as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Good job," Canary chuckled. "You lasted longer than usual which is good." Her smile was kind as she helped him up. "Kaldur, you're next."

"Yes Ma'am," the Atlantean stated as Conner tapped off the platform. He gave Conner a reassuring glance which was quickly returned with a soft smile.

"Nicely done," Robin muttered softly as Conner sat next to him, his tone soft but still a bit scathing. Conner glanced at him worriedly.

"This is why I asked if you were alright," he whispered back.

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that Conner."

"It was."

"Really now? Conner, you've seen me come back from way worse than a little fever and hallucinations. Have a little faith in me will you?"

"I do have faith in you," Conner replied softly as Kaldur dodged a hit. "I also know you seem almost incapable of avoiding injuries lately."

"You still worried about the whole thing with Ivy? That was months ago. Hell, I survived a volcano dealing with the over demented Red remember? I'm sure I can handle anything the missions dish out to me."

"That's what I'm worried about."

"What, that Hubris will bite me in the butt? I can tell you it's happened to Clark already."

"More reason to avoid whatever Hubris is."

"You really need to learn literature."

"Why? Reading's useless unless it's a file or information."

"Reading is always information Conner," Robin groaned. "Not all of us have telepathic tutors for sixteen weeks remember?"

"Don't remind me," Conner growled a little loudly, earning himself a worried look from the girls. M'Gann stared as Artemis glared at both him and Robin. Conner flushed and turned his eyes down the hall.

"Do me a favor Conner, and learn how to shut up."

"I'll work on that," Conner muttered. "Hey…I looked up some more stuff on Scarecrow after everything." He missed Robin's eyes narrowing. "What did you - ?"

"Leaving," Robin hissed as he swung off the outcropping and moved off to the teleporter with a stiff quickness.

"Robin?" Kaldur called.

"I just remembered I have homework to do," Robin called over his shoulder as he pressed buttons and the device whirred awake.

"You can do it here," Canary called gently, a tinge of worry singing in the background of her tone. Robin smiled back at her.

"Yeah but I promised Batman I'd get this one project done tonight and if I stay here, it'll never happen," Robin stated easily. "Sorry!"

"I guess you can't do much on it," Wally sighed a little put out.

"Yeah," Artemis murmured softly, her own disappointment and worry beginning to shine through – for once.

"Liar," Conner whispered to himself.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Yes. I know it is a very short chapter. There are reasons for that - need to finnish the next thought line, want to try to keep people from killing me, and also want to make people stay a bit interested.**

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><p>"You really can't do much other than run can you?" a cold voice asked easily, like a snake.<p>

That voice was very much hated by the man who'd come back to the frothing city of crime and stupidity. The man hadn't been back to the city in years; not since his contact had been put in a cell and had had difficulty to get parole let alone bail. No one wanted to get this person out. The man especially wanted him to stay in the cell and rot in it but it didn't matter.

He was this horrid person's lawyer.

"You can fight back," the man said through the glass. His briefcase sat on the counter before him, his fingers tightening and loosening on it. "Fight or flight and all that jazz you know?"

Great, he was getting nervous. That wasn't good. If he was too scared to even speak to his client he couldn't possibly keep this man out of jail this time. It truth, he was a last ditch effort to get this person out and he knew it. The lawyer who really could work on this case had become spooked from something – someone – and apparently, it was bad.

His boss was hard to scare.

"True," the prisoner stated with a strange ease. He seemed far too calm for some of this. "I can always fight but then my hands get dirty. Plus being here makes things difficult."

The lawyer suddenly found himself feeling very glad he'd managed to get a private meeting with this person. His words alone were dangerous. This guy was insane to begin with. He'd murdered people who refused to pay for protection. He'd made the mistake of doing it to a family that didn't all die when the wires snapped. He'd been seen by a boy, one who should have died but didn't. They were lucky that the uncle had been injured to the point of being unable to take care of the boy but a billionaire had taken the boy in – made him family.

That boy never missed a hearing.

"I guess that's what I'm for," the lawyer stated. "The boy is a problem. He can't make it to the hearing this year and be allowed to give his usual speech of why you should stay inside."

"I agree," the man said. He leaned forward, a sick smile stretching across his face. "What do you plan to do?"

"It's simple," the lawyer said, his voice amazingly stable. "We must make sure he doesn't make it there without tying it to you and yours."

"I like it so far," the man stated happily. "I do have one condition."

"What would that be?"

"No one harms him more than to keep him quiet. He's my problem."

The young lawyer didn't like the sound of the man's tone, the quirk in his lips, or the sneaking suspicion that he had had the same sick look on his face when he'd even suggested what he thought he'd suggested. He could barely believe he'd suggested taking a kid off the streets.

It happened all the time in Gotham; kids going missing that is. They disappeared in broad daylight all the time. It was normal for children of rich men to disappear in Gotham to never be found again. Naturally however, there was still the fact that this boy had to disappear without ties being made to the man before him. The people who handled this kind of thing had to be brought in special and would have to be told specifically to not talk about where the money came from. The money of course was the real problem.

Where the hell would they get it?

"You look a bit worried," the man said. "There's nothing to worry about. Do your job and nothing will have to be worried about."

"O-of course sir," the lawyer whispered. "Of course, Boss Zucco."

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Ah! So much stuff to do and so little time! Ick!**

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><p>Wally was bouncing up and down, a huge smile on his face when Conner saw him that afternoon. Conner's big hands were weaving in and out and through Wolf's ruff gently as Kaldur helped M'Gann with the upcoming Thanksgiving feast. There had a been a few spectacular explosions of food that Sphere and Wolf had happily helped clean up – Sphere probably came up with the best damned dog food ever.<p>

"Guess what happened to me today," Wally laughed as he practically danced over to them.

Conner didn't even bother to reply. M'Gann and Kaldur had their hands full with a huge turkey and other assorted foods when Wally spoke and both looked pleadingly at Conner to take care of it. He didn't really want to bother asking – it was too aggravating to have to ask over and over when the speedster would spill sooner or later.

"I'm sure it was cool," Conner jeered as Wolf panted almost laughingly at the boy. The mutated canine started to wag his tail with a sort of wild abandon as Sphere beeped gleefully as M'Gann almost dropped something. She caught it and handed it back to the young Martian. M'Gann smiled back at her and returned to what she was doing.

"Oh my god it was amazing! Without my powers either! I. Am. Awesome!" Wally cheered.

"Wonderful," Kaldur muttered as he stumbled out of M'Gann's way. "Be awesome and help us out a little will you?" He tripped over a loose tile and the gravy went flying until Sphere flew over to catch it as a gray boat and Wolf caught her without even spilling a drop.

"Good Girl Sphere! Good boy Wolf!" Conner cheered happily – Kaldur sighing gleefully as he scrubbed a hand over his head. Wolf gently poured the gravy into a clean gravy boat provided by the Atlantean, licked Sphere clean, and then wandered back to Conner's hands. Conner made much of the canine and then made much of the bio-organic-shape-shifting-computer.

"Holy good god," Wally whistled appreciatively. "That's almost as cool as what I did today."

"Oh?" Conner asked. "Well I guess I have to take your word for it then," he added casually as he patted Wolf and Sphere again; all while ignoring the groan from Kaldur who wanted to tell him to just work on patience and freakin' ask.

"I made a new school record in the long jumps today!" Wally laughed.

"Oh good job," Conner said a little confused. He didn't see the point of it naturally but then again, he didn't know what the long jump was. He had a feeling he could beat Wally's record – without powers too.

"You have no idea! I am so cool at school now that you wouldn't believe it!"

"Good for you," Conner mumbled. "Are you two sure you don't want help from me?"

"It's fine Conner," M'Gann said. "We've got it."

"In other words, I'm helping by staying out of the way," Conner chuckled. M'Gann smiled sweetly at him. It was true that Conner had no kitchen sense what-so-ever but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate the occasional 'Can I help you's he gave her.

"Well Conner, let's face it," Wally sighed wistfully as he threw an arm around Conner's shoulders. "Men don't belong in certain places around the house."

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are that Artemis isn't here?" Kaldur asked a little horrified by what Wally had just said.

"RECOGNIZED, ARTEMIS, B07," the computer called as if on cue.

"We may just find out," Conner chuckled to Wolf and Sphere. Wolf seemed to chuckle, golden eyes beaming with a strange hint of mischief that really could only be characterized by a fox-like trickster. Conner wasn't sure he liked the gleam in his companion's eyes but then again, he'd seen something like it in Robin and it seemed to fit the small boy perfectly.

"Hey Artemis!" M'Gann called gleefully as she stuffed the large turkey into the oven and hit a few buttons with a bit of a flourish. Conner had to admire the girl's strange (albeit clumsy) grace. She danced over to the door, a broad smile on her face, arms ready to wrap about Artemis' slight form – that even makes Conner nervous around her.

Then her smile falters and disappears and Artemis takes the initiative to start the hug rather than M'Gann. The blonde archer buried her face into M'Gann's shoulder and let out a heaving – stuttering – sigh that made Conner's eyes narrow.

"What is wrong?" Kaldur asked quickly, his tone falling back to his 'big brother/leader' timbres as he strode over to the girls. M'Gann had lifted her arms to hold Artemis' shoulders gently, her green eyes a bit wider than usual. Conner can't blame her; he can see those small shoulders quaking uncontrollably from where he's sitting.

"It was a shitty day at school today," Artemis mumbled into M'Gann's shoulder, becoming almost impossible to understand if not for the new talent of being able to understand a teammate even if they make it difficult to do.

Conner had found it becoming easier to understand the jargon the other teenagers used around him. He could understand certain coin phrases that had meant nothing to him for his first few weeks out of the pod in Cadmus but he still had slight issues with certain things.

Like how absolutely _everyone_ felt it was necessary to wear their favorite hero's symbol while he couldn't wear his own. He didn't care if M'Gann continued to explain the fact that if he did wear it every day, someone would recognize him and attack him at school and cause a panic that would have to be fixed by the League – because they all knew Batman would never allow the team to take care of something like that. He wasn't going to resort to wearing glasses though so he tried hard to put up with wearing plain shirts every day rather than the one he wanted to.

Halloween had been horrible seeing all the wannabes wearing the badly made – pathetically made really – costumes of favored heroes. He didn't care if certain people felt that they 'knew' how to dress like the heroes they venerated when he knew they were wrong. He knew he couldn't say how he knew they were wrong but he could always tell them 'good luck with _that_'.

"How exactly?" Wally asked, his own tone worried. Sure, he understood something was wrong with the city of Gotham – god it had taken forever to talk her into telling them where she was going to school – but is she was that shaken by something, it had to be bad. Artemis was hard to scare.

"It was just…shitty," she muttered as she pulled away from her friend.

She scrubbed a hand over her face tiredly before wandering over to the couch to flop onto it face first with a sigh. She rolled a bit onto her side to try to remain comfortable but her unease was tangible to Conner and he knew it because he was shrinking the way Wolf and Sphere were at it. It was like being in Metropolis again, watching as Robin writhed and screamed his lungs raw as Batman watched and – as Conner had later learned from Canary – prayed for Robin's to get better from the toxins.

"That doesn't really answer the question," Wally pressed a bit as he screeched to a halt and flopped onto the arm rest of the couch near her feet. "You're spooked – trust me, we can tell – and you don't really spook – again, we can tell – so what happened?"

"Please, let me rest a bit," Artemis growled irritably.

Kaldur placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed it gently. Wally took the unspoken hint and sped over to Conner's side. Kaldur and M'Gann shared a quick glance to each other which ended with M'Gann breezing away to her cooking and Kaldur murmuring that Artemis just had to talk to them and that they would listen if she wanted to.

"Whatever," Artemis muttered a bit bitterly. "Just know that Robin may not come today since it happened in his town and it was really shitty thing to have happen in Gotham – note I say Gotham people!"

Conner gave a slightly terrified choking noise as he tried to not to breathe saliva down the wrong tube. What he wouldn't give for a glass of water for the excuse to make the noise. He's wanted to see Robin for weeks now since the boy seemed to have more than the usual amount of homework which kept him stuck in Gotham all the time now. Despite the fact that Robin had said he wanted to see Wolf and Sphere, he hadn't come despite sending a note to Robin to say they'd arrived early.

"That can't be good," Wally mumbled to Conner softly as Kaldur rejoined M'Gann in her feverish cooking spree. "Bad for Gotham in Gotham is never good."

"You're beginning to babble Wally," Conner muttered as he stood slowly and wandered over to the TV, patting his hip to invite Wolf to follow him. He slipped into a seat near her and pointed at Wolf then to the blonde archer with a sneaky gleam in his eyes. Wolf gave an appreciative burble and went to nudge Artemis' elbow gently, and urging her to pet him.

"Smooth Conner," Artemis mumbled softly so that only Conner and Wolf would hear her. "That was very well done; making Wolf come for attention meaning I'd have to either give it to him or be bugged by him." As she spoke, her oddly smooth hands through Wolf's soft fur, scratching his ear lovingly. Wolf panted appreciatively as he turned his head into the touch gratefully.

"Thanks," he whispered back after leaning forward to scratch Wolf's ears as well. "I guess… What happened though?"

"I really don't want to talk about it," she whispered back.

"Why not? You have everyone worried about you."

"Because…" she muttered a bit half heartedly, like she wanted to talk. "You remember our field trip to Gotham?" Conner nodded a bit nervously. "Remember the kid you saved?"

"Dick Grayson," Conner smiled a little bit. That had been a pretty great week despite the worry of what the League would think of them all. "Yeah, I remember him, and his guardian who vouched for us."

Artemis smiled at the memory but something else glowed in the depths of her brown eyes.

"What is it?" Conner asked.

"Kidnappings are normal in Gotham; you have to remember that. Even in daylight, it's normal for perps to grab kids off the streets but they usually try to do it where no one will be able to say what happened. They don't want witnesses you know."

"Yeah…" Conner murmured, his large hand gripping Wolf's fur a little too tightly. The mutated animal grunted at him and nipped at his wrist gently, warning him to let go. "What's that got to do with Grayson?"

"When people try to kidnap him in front of the school in broad daylight, in front of the Commissioner of the Gotham Police no less, you'd come to the conclusion that something is rotten in Gotham – more than usual," she hissed softly.

Conner tried not to show his reaction on his face as he glanced over to the others to find them nattering on about how the pies should be made. He knew Kaldur wanted at least some sort of fruit from the sea's depths that he'd talked his king into getting for him but Wally wanted Pumpkin pie and M'Gann seemed to want to try any pie imaginable.

"Grayson…Kidnapped," Conner murmured a bit worriedly. "I guess…nothing could have been done about it right?"

"I said people _tried_ to kidnap him," Artemis pointed out, her index finger poking holes in the air for emphasis. "I never said they _succeeded_. Commissioner Gordon had his gun out in two seconds after the breaks screeched and he wasn't the only one who swung into action either; Wayne's butler, by the way, is a scary old man. You should have seen the look on his face as that van raced off, hand gripping an umbrella for dear life as he checked over his charge."

Conner stared at her a bit surprised. He'd read up a bit on Bruce Wayne between the files Robin had given him and his homework – one thing he would not miss when he went full-time hero would be schooling and homework. He'd been impressed that the family butler had taken such care of raising his employer's son when the man's will only _requested_ it. Though, it was strange too considering Wayne had disappeared for twelve years or so at one point only to return a notorious playboy and slightly terrifyingly sly business man who had a tendency to get strange injuries that Conner wasn't sure could really come from his amazing bag of activities.

"I've read about Alfred Pennyworth," Conner murmured. "He seemed a bit laidback."

"He's not; not if his loved ones are in danger at least," Artemis whispered back as she scratched both of Wolf's ears earning her a wonderful groan of glee from the big canine.

Conner tried to not smirk at the fact that Wolf's eyes seemed to roll backward into his skull lovingly at the treatment that even Conner couldn't really hate him for liking. Artemis chuckled softly at Wolf's reaction and rubbed his ears again in slow circles. Wolf gurgled happily at it. Conner smiled again as he patted Wolf's back gently.

"I guess that's a good thing," Conner mumbled. "I know I'll never get treatment like that from my own flesh and blood."

"Grayson's not related to the Wayne family or the Pennyworth family Conner," Artemis murmured with a soft chuckle. "He was adopted in; like Superman to the Kent family that loves you despite everything."

Conner smiled. He'd forgotten that little fact. Despite everything, he'd made himself a couple of families; Martha and Lana were wonderfully accepting of him and the team had proved they didn't care what Superman seemed to think of him either. He had a family. Superman could stop them from caring about him about as easily as he could make Conner stop caring for them.

"Alright," Conner sighed as he weaved his hands into Wolf's fur again. "I guess I can understand why Robin won't show up today."

Artemis smiled a bit ruefully at the disappointed tone in Conner's deep voice. It wasn't very often they heard that tone from him – or his biologic father for that matter; not that _he_ was _ever _around for them to hear it – and it struck a soft chord with her. It wasn't like she could help feeling a bit sorry for Conner wanting to be around the only family he knows since his biological one wants nothing to do with him. It's the reverse of how she wants nothing to do with her biological family and hardly anything to do with the pseudo family here – though, that inclination is dwindling into negatives now.

"I'm sure he won't stay away much longer Conner," she whispered cheerfully – at least she hoped it was cheery. "We're family for him too remember?"

"Yeah…you're probably right."

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Alright...first day of fnals but who gives a damn. Long. Not sure on it. Sorry about the confusion in the last chapter.**

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><p>Dinner had been spent in a dangerous silence.<p>

Dick knew it had been and didn't dare try to question it. Oh he'd understood Bruce inviting his Uncle Rick Grayson over for Thanksgiving sure – he was Dick's only living family member and he'd asked to have a few visits every so often before Bruce had taken him in. He could almost understand Bruce bringing a date – even if it was Selina Kyle – since it would have been prudent for Bruce Wayne's most recent girlfriend, screw her histories, to come to a family meet and greet dinner; even if it was two days before Thanksgiving. He could even understand Lucius showing up since he was part of the family as well – even Alfred had been given orders to sit at the table with them all.

He really hadn't thought his day had warranted Commissioner Jim Gordon and his daughter, Dick's classmate, Barbara Gordon coming to dinner though.

He didn't mind Barbara; he found her mood swings entertaining to a point even. He didn't mind Jim either – it was only Commissioner if they were on duty or if a crime had happened around them and he showed up – he was a nice guy and a great cop. Dick liked both of them to be sure but damn it all, he hadn't expected them at dinner.

Barbara made it a bit worse considering she'd decided that since it was the Wayne Manor, she had to dress up a bit. It helped that Selina had come in a gorgeous dress that would have made Wonder Woman jealous of her hourglass figure but still. Barbara isn't flat chested either; but she's not nearly as voluptuous – god Dick hated vocabulary so much right then – as Selina or any female Dick knew outside of school save for Artemis.

That didn't stop her from wearing a dress that accented her figure not only well, but dangerously so. Dick had been surprised her father let her out of the house in it even though even he knew it wasn't nearly as dangerous as what Selina was wearing – strapless black evening gown with a slit up the right side that went almost to her hip, giving a peek of a black garter, and _Cole Hann_ high heels of patent leather. God only knew how she'd earned the money for those!

"The turkey's wonderful as usual Alfred," Bruce stated easily as he tossed his napkin back onto his lap, his black plate cleaned. "I'm sorry to say I dare not eat any more."

Selina giggled in her own strangely deep contralto voice, a hand gracing her collar bone for a second before it reached to take Bruce's hand. "I have to agree," she said. "I'd be glad to take some off your hands though; it'll make a wonderful lunch." She sent Alfred a kind smile that almost looked believable.

If only some of them didn't know any better.

"I'm pleased you like it Miss," Alfred stated politely in his usual drawl. "I shall make up a care package for you before you leave. Pumpkin or mince pie?"

"Pumpkin," she cooed a bit ecstatic.

_Well I know what she likes_, Dick thought as he glanced over to his uncle who had cleaned his plate as well – with a certain bit of difficulty considering Dick and Barbara had ended up cutting his meat into smaller pieces for him. He hadn't said anything to them about it; just a soft smile to both before stabbing the pieces of turkey and ham a bit more violently than may have been needed. Not that Dick cared anymore.

People were finally talking and that was all Dick wanted.

He didn't want to think about how his day had begun at school; didn't want to think about how scared and horrified Artemis had looked from across the yard. He didn't want to think about the reason someone wanted him taken and what they may or may not do to him.

He actually didn't want to think at all period.

"Thanks Alfred," Lucius was saying as he helped the elder man clean up the plates. Jim rose from his seat and collected his daughter's plate as well as his own before following both men into the kitchen.

"I see Dick's had another growth spurt," Rick said casually with a kind smile. Selina nodded in agreement even though she knew Dick hadn't gained more than an inch since she'd last seen him – if that.

Bruce however smiled broadly at the man and chuckled. "Yes," he said. "And his grades are spectacular too."

"They're talking grades," Barbara hissed into Dick's ear. "Let's go watch movies huh?"

"Sure," Dick whispered back, slipping out of his seat when, suddenly, he recalled watching movies with the team.

Yeah, that was where he wanted to be right now; away from Bruce's overprotective looks, away from his uncle's injuries that brought up sickening memories, and away from the others because he was sure they all knew something and weren't telling him. He had a shrewd feeling that Selina had watched the news or that Lucius had been present for the call from Alfred and Jim. He didn't really want to deal with Artemis telling the others about it but even they knew what boundaries there were when it came to Gotham.

Right?

Dick couldn't bring himself to enjoy the movie; or Barbara's tries at getting him to smile.

Jim left as soon as he could pry his daughter away from the couch and Selina departed soon after him. Lucius and Alfred spent a bit of time with Bruce and Rick while Dick stayed on the couch, watching them. Rick and Lucius left together, Alfred beaming at them happily as he closed the door behind them, Bruce at Dick's shoulder. The door clicked shut and Dick felt his heart sink as Bruce's smile disappeared to be replaced by his patented glare.

"If you have any homework, get it done now," Bruce growled to Dick without looking down at him. Dick didn't bother to nod and went to collect his books when a thought hit him.

He could always go to Mount Justice and do homework there. There'd be a den mother and Conner wouldn't let him out of sight after what happened in Metropolis. Then again, Bruce and Alfred would likely kill him if he just went there without at least asking first – not that he'd get a positive answer from Bruce but that didn't matter…did it?

Oh, he was so confused about what to do and there was no good way out of his situation either. They weren't sure who'd sent the thugs out which meant they had even less than usual to go on and just how many unmarked, white vans, with overly tinted windows were actually _in_ Gotham City _alone_ was horrifying to think about when you had to find _one_. Bruce had found it on cameras all over and almost two thirds of them had gone somewhat near Dick's school but the one he was looking for had managed to blend in with seven others in traffic within seconds of being foiled.

Needless to say, Bruce was pissed off and was being overprotective as usual.

The sound of pencil scribbling on paper filled his large room eerily and Dick found himself dreaming once again of the hustle and bustle of his old circus home. He'd once fallen asleep to the trumpet of circus animals and the usual pounding of people practicing or finishing putting something up, taking something down, or fixing something on the wagons. He'd always heard the soft, rhythmic pounding of someone's routine music on a beaten up stereo as well.

God, he missed those sounds.

"Master Richard," Alfred called gently as he glided into the room with a silver serving platter. "I have taken the liberty of mulling some apple cider for you and Master Bruce."

Dick glanced over his shoulder as Alfred placed the platter on a bedside table and poured him a cup almost soundlessly. He could hear the implication as to what Bruce had already said to the offered beverage in Alfred's voice.

"Bruce is doing something in the cave isn't he?" Dick asked softly as he let his eyes fall back to the Pre-Calculus homework – sometimes he hated being brilliant. At least in the circus, he hadn't needed to use too many of his brains in his home schooling.

"Excellent intuitive guess Master Richard," Alfred drawled as he placed the mug on the desk. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Can you talk Bruce into letting me hang out with the Team tonight? I'll take my homework, I swear," he almost pleaded. Alfred gave him a look. "Never mind."

"A good choice Young Sir," Alfred drawled casually as if he hadn't just manhandled the boy mentally. He swept out of the room, snatching up the platter as he went; the door clicking shut behind him.

"The times I hope for someone to shoot me," Dick muttered to himself as he finished his homework and went down to the cave, cider in hand.

He could hear Bruce's gloved hands flying over the keys of the computers before the elevator doors opened. He didn't need to look to see the man was engrossed, his eyes dark and dangerous. He quickly understood that if villains ever saw his eyes, they'd turn their acts around in two heartbeats; heroes would stay out of his way more often too.

"Homework done?"

"Yes. Can I-?"

"Start warming up then; we'll work on flip kicks today."

"I guess that's a no," Dick hissed back. Bruce's head lifted a centimeter.

"A no to what exactly?"

"My going to the Cave and hanging out with the team," Dick murmured innocently as he sipped on the hot cider carefully.

"Yes, you may take it as a no."

The mug slammed into the wall next to Bruce's head, cider and bits of ceramic going everywhere and spattering over Bruce's shoulders in a very impressive shower then. He stared at his soaking clothes for a moment, trying very hard to not yell from the amazing heat – damn Alfred to hell for knowing how to heat drinks so efficiently – before turning around to look at his son's enraged face.

"I'm going."

"You're not."

"I am!"

"You're not!"

"You can't stop me!"

"You want to test that theory?"

"Watch me win!"

"I would love to see you try!"

"Screw you!"

"Do you have any idea what you're asking for?"

"**_ENOUGH_**!"

_Ah, they'd managed to piss of the Brit._

Bruce was standing not a foot away from his adopted son, his blue eyes snarling the profanities he'd managed to never say aloud around his son. Dick's blue eyes were glaring back up at him in a dangerous dare that Bruce had a feeling he didn't want to challenge. Neither one dared look to the steps to see what Alfred's face looked like. It wasn't vary difficult to imagine considering when Alfred yelled he showed his feelings in his eyes. However, from Dick's position in the cave he could see the man's entire face wrinkled in anger.

"That will be all," Alfred commanded like the king of the house that he was. "Both of you are low on sleep and neither of you will be going anywhere tonight. To bed with you both! Go! Now! Get going!"

Bruce didn't move, knowing full well that Alfred may allow him a few moments to cool off before he went upstairs. Dick however, was the youngest in the cave and even he had learned to be kind and respectful to elders; especially if they were pissed off at him. He was a bit surprised when Dick continued to glare at him passionately as he left the cave, eyes tearing up with frustration and the wish to understand a parent's motives. Alfred waited for the door to slam shut before he smoothly moved down the steps, eyes glowing dangerously.

"In all my years in the military I have never seen two people quibbled like that before," Alfred chided softly, his voice ringing off the walls far more loudly than even when he'd yelled. "Really, you two are worse than some of the people I knew in the war!"

"Do you know what he wants to do Alfred?"

"Be away from you, Gotham, whoever it is that wants him to disappear? I don't really know sir; it's so difficult to believe he would want to be within the city limits for days at the moment."

Bruce resisted the urge to chew on his bottom lip in slight irritation and shame. Alfred had a point. Dick wouldn't really want to be around whatever it was that was trying to probably kill him but Bruce also knew Artemis went to Dick's school; there was no way for the boy to escape the situation very well. Artemis however, knew how to keep secrets so maybe she hadn't talked to the others about it.

Then again, anything to deter from her own history would probably be a welcome story to tell.

It made Bruce shudder to think she'd be capable of that but then again, for all he knew she was and it was safer to think she was as dangerous as anyone else he worked with. No one was safe to work with other than yourself – trainees being a possible exception in Dick's case. Though, even then, Bruce knew he may be unable to trust his son at some point because of something.

"Forgive me for wanting to keep my son safe," Bruce ground out tersely as he crossed back to the computer, bending down to pick up the stray bits of ceramic.

"Did he throw a mug at you?" Alfred asked in shock.

"Yes. As soon as I clarified I didn't want him to leave, he threw it at my head," Bruce muttered. "Apparently, his aim needs work."

"Sir, forgive me, but I think the fact he _didn't _hit you means he needs to focus on something other than his nightly activities," Alfred huffed. Bruce tried to ignore the feeling that Alfred was about to beat him senseless if this conversation continued.

The man was old yes but he'd raised Bruce and Bruce would never dare harm the closest thing to his father he had. Not intentionally at least. He could only hope that was what had dawned into Dick's head before his – admittedly – damned good throw. The cider _had_ been hot though.

"Forgive me if I need to get apple cider out of my uniform," Bruce muttered as he turned to leave, dismissing the ceramic bits from his mind a bit too easily.

He was pulling the cape from his shoulders when he heard Alfred hiss something that sounded suspiciously like, "I hope it was still hot."

He didn't dare reply.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Alright...finals are over! Time to really start kicking butt in Christmas...God I dislike church choir. Any way...here we go. I had to rewrite this at one point because it was getting a little nutty and I didn't want Batman turning into more of an ass.**

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><p><em>A pissed off Bat and a pissed off Bird<em>, Conner thought a bit ruefully during training. It had been almost two weeks since Artemis had first shared her whole 'Dick Grayson almost got kidnapped' story to Conner – and Conner only for some strange reason – and it had taken two days for Robin to show up again; with Batman in overprotective tow.

"It didn't take long for that gear to kick into action I see," Flash was muttering darkly across the room to Green Arrow who had been present for the first day of Batman's overprotective glares.

Conner heard him clearly though and he had entreated M'Gann to relay everything he heard to the others as secretly as possible. It surprised him that he hadn't thought of having her do that before but then again, it would have been distracting for the others to not be able to concentrate on what he heard rather than what was around them.

"No, it didn't," Green Arrow murmured. "You should have seen the news bulletins."

"Could someone explain what exactly I should be worried over?" Canary hissed softly. She too had been present for most of the rather explosive sparing sessions between the two Gotham fighters. She'd had to dodge straying Bat-a-Rangs and Bird-a-Rangs.

"You haven't been watching the news?" Flash asked softly a bit horrified.

"I haven't had time," Canary growled back. Jon placed hands on their shoulders his face calm.

"The plain truth is that someone was almost kidnapped before the Gotham Academy," Jon whispered. "It is probably best to not speak of it to either one of them."

"Mind telling me whom?" Canary muttered.

"Bats have ears," Jon muttered softly. Canary rolled her eyes. He seemed to cave. "Bruce Wayne's ward."

"Grayson?" she gasped. "Really?"

"Yes," Jon whispered back. "Really, _don't_ bring it up."

'_Too late_,' Artemis intoned softly in their minds.

'_No kidding_,' Wally murmured. '_Was that what had you so freaked out?_'

'_Bats has ears_,' Artemis returned slyly, her eyes glinting.

Wally barely hid the smile on his face as Kaldur tried to not groan. Kaldur was busy trying to stay out of the kid's problems mainly because his own opinion of it was that when Batman was ticked off, it was time to lie low. Even though Robin was his friend, Batman scared him a bit more than his king did. Besides, the adults were staying to the sidelines of the Dynamic Duo's arguments and glares.

"RECOGNIZED, SUPERMAN, 01," the computer sang loudly as the teleporter whirred loudly as he stepped into the main hall of the cave. Kaldur could sense Conner shrinking down into the wall as far as his large body could go as Superman's blue eyes scanned the room.

They landed on Conner for an indescribable moment and Kaldur shivered as the elder Super ripped his eyes away to gaze at Batman and Robin more caringly than usual. Robin was busy glaring at Batman and Batman was doing much of the same. It was one of those things that Robin was far more powerful than usual since he seemed to be in the right on something.

"Batman," Superman rumbled. "May I speak to you?"

Batman whirled to face Superman, Robin pursing his lips in a dangerous line before he spun to look at the opposite wall, arms crossed over his small chest. He looked childish which was almost laughable considering it was Robin. Batman gazed at Superman for a moment before nodding and stepping down to meet him.

Superman's eyes flitted up to look at Robin a bit worriedly. It wasn't everyday he saw Robin this mad with Batman. He'd seen them frustrated with each other sure but never quite this pissed off with each other. Oh there had been moments when they were close to strangling each other yes but this was close to trying to get their hands on the guns they abhorred.

"Yes, what is it this time?" Batman asked. He didn't miss the look Superman was sending towards Robin. It was softer than the ones he knew had been gracing his face lately. However, he sort of resented the fact that Clark wouldn't give Conner those types of expressions. Bruce hadn't wanted to be a father either.

"Privately?" Clark asked gently. Batman glared at him before he felt a soft breeze make his cape flutter followed by a soft yelp from Robin.

"Conner! Put me down will you?" Robin was yelling from across the room, legs and arms flailing about as he tried to escape the bigger boy's cradling grip. The Sphere was whirring as it rolled out of the room, the giant wolf following after it with its teeth clamped gently on Wally's glove and pulling him along gently.

"All in favor of letting the adults talk where I can't overhear?" Conner muttered as he exited the room, ignoring Robin's movements.

His blue eyes however, shot at Clark with a dark flash that made the man shiver. Something told him he'd had similar looks in his eyes when – if – he was doing something against the law or when he was fighting his own friends because he was possessed into doing so.

"Aye, aye," Artemis chimed happily as she pulled M'Gann after her, thin fingers brushing Kaldur's lower arm as if she was about to catch him as she did M'Gann but thought better of it a little too late. It was strange to see how easily she was fitting into the group now. Batman wasn't even sure he could get over the feeling that he probably should not have talked Green Arrow into dragging her in.

Even without Roy around, this team seemed whole. Robin could be safe in this team if it were a bit more together on things than it was. It wasn't Bruce's fault he didn't like the whole idea of Dick being hurt or disappearing. He didn't want to bury anymore people in his life. Never again.

"Batman," Clark's deep voice chimed, dragging him back to reality. "I heard the news," he added. Teeth gritted soundlessly.

"And you wish to say what about it?" he ground out.

"That you might want to at least let him out of the house," Clark said. Was it possible he was being fatherly? _Wrong fucking kid Clark_, Bruce thought dangerously. He didn't care that Jon was probably listening to his thoughts – when wasn't he? – he really couldn't give a damn.

"Nice to see you as well," Clark muttered softly as Barry winced and Canary shifted her feet uncomfortably. Jon was a rock as usual. Nothing seemed to faze him. Thank god his niece seemed more susceptible to human feelings than him. Then again, maybe those really were as dangerous as people thought them to be if she was anything to go by.

A shudder wracked his body but only if you were looking for it would you find it.

Superman could hear his bones rattling but he couldn't tell weather it was because Batman was thinking about what could have happened to Robin that day at school or something far more terrifying. Of course, the next question was, is there anything more terrifying to him than losing someone he cared about?

He didn't dare mention it as he decided to listen to Robin growl at Conner with less heart than he'd probably been giving Bruce.

"There's no way in hell I'm letting him out of my sight," Batman growled. "If you think for one second that I'm going to let him out of my sight after that, you're as stupid as you are strong."

His voice was deadly calm. Only Clark could hear it wavering gently. It didn't warble, it wavered gently. There was no such thing as a warbling voice when it came to Bruce. Soft, difficult to hear even with super hearing wavering. There were hard to notice shudders and shivers but rarely any all out trembling. He'd heard Bruce shut down before yes but Batman always took his place, never a rationally scared/scarred/sort of unstable man.

Never the little kid who lost his family again. Never the vulnerable boy again. Never vulnerable again. He wasn't going to allow himself to be that again and yet he seemed to have the least satisfied death wish in the world.

"You're usually so eloquent," Clark mumbled softly, more to himself than anyone else but he didn't really bother to keep his voice soft for it. Canary, Barry, Ollie, and Jon all heard him as much as Bruce did.

"Don't tempt me."

"Why would I do that? I've felt your punches Batman. I would like to avoid that again." In some ways it was a joke; he didn't want to break Bruce's hand again without doing anything…again. As little as they liked each other – really, they tolerated each other – Bruce was his friend and he worried about his sanity, his livelihood, and those Bruce cared about.

If Bruce lost those he cared about, his livelihood would become more dangerous to him and others. If that happened, and sooner or later it would, Bruce would stop one day and remember and whatever sanity he had left – and the quantity was always questionable – would disappear completely which meant his morals would probably disappear as well.

If that happened, nothing would matter to him ever again.

Clark never wanted to see it happen.

"The team will keep him safe," Clark murmured noting to himself that he was putting a bit of stock in his clone as he said it. He wasn't sure why he was doing it but he too noticed how close the kids all were. Even Roy was close to at least some of them and that managed to act as a unifier of sorts for them all.

"I'll be the judge of that," Batman stated.

Superman didn't bother calling him Bruce in his head then. When Batman took over, this man's voice got deeper and more graveled. It was always low. It was always calm. It was always dangerous. It was like the sea in some ways and Clark found himself remembering King Orin's words about how the sea hid things from others well and without trying. It was mysterious and still fairly well known – at least the part you could see through. Once you got past the ten percent of light line. Then, you were in pure darkness.

Bruce was the ten percent of the iceberg-like ocean. Batman was the rest of him save for the one bit that wouldn't – couldn't – be explored.

"I'm putting stock in Conner for once and you're shooting it down without a second thought," Clark sighed. "Really Batman, I can't make heads or tails of what you want me to be doing."

Batman snarled like an animal at him, taking a threatening step forward. Clark stood still. He was invulnerable after all. Batman was the one who'd come out injured, not him. Jon however, stepped between them both.

"Stop," he stated monotonously. There was no mistaking it; Jon was the father of the grownups. His voice was calm and firm and unquestionable. Even Batman put a bit of give into that voice. Bruce could be calm, Batman could be a deadly calm, but Jon was a conscious that both personalities needed.

"Jon has a point," Ollie murmured softly. "Even if we are quiet, Conner can still hear us and we all know the kids are like extended family to him. If he doesn't talk to us, he'll probably talk to at least one kid."

"Lovely," Batman muttered a bit more darkly than usual for the darker personality.

Ollie had a point; Conner had bonded with the other teens – another reason he feared Artemis' past, whatever it was. However, there was the next question of what Conner would do if one of those friends was actually killed. They'd seen the damage he'd nearly done to Ivy when she'd tried to kill Robin – not that he'd really paid all that much attention to it when he was worrying over Robin's injuries from attacking Conner.

"How about this," Clark suggested, "I'll put a bit of stock in Conner and the rest of this team when it comes to Robin's safety but I have to point out that it I'm doing that, you do too."

He poked Batman's chest with a finger and gave him a pointed look. There was to be no misunderstandings; Bruce would have to come out of the ninety percentile of his personality and get the hell over his worries.

Clark realized it was his son he was worried over but even then, Robin could take care of himself pretty well for a kid his age.

"Really Clark, you're going to give your own son some stock?" Batman asked a tad petulantly which earned him a glare from Superman.

"How many times-?" Clark began when the other adults started to point to their ears and flick the soft cartilage with worried looks. Well, Batman was smirking at him but despite what Batman routinely told him, he wasn't a complete idiot.

"_Something tells me we don't want to know what he was about to say_," Clark heard Robin hiss from down the hall. His voice was low like Batman's but it had a strangely softer edge to it. Clark suddenly found himself hoping that soft edge wouldn't leave the boy as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"_Yeah_," Wally murmured with a hint of bitterness as the sound of clenching fists reached Clark's ears as well. He knew that sound well enough to know that only Conner was able to make that sound with his large hands. It was similar to the way his own hands sounded when he clenched them into tight balls when he was frustrated.

"_Of course, it should sort of be expected_," Conner muttered softly, his fists tightening more. "_He made it apparent he hated me on day one_."

"_That does not mean he is in the right_," Kaldur chided gently. "_Personally, it is a little distressing how correct Robin is in his comparison of Batman and Superman's parenting skills_."

Clark winced and Batman smirked wider. It was oddly painful to realize how the kids all seemed to side with Conner despite barely knowing him – not that there was much to even know. Hell, Conner wasn't even sure what powers he would develop; the super speed had been a moment of sheer dumb luck as far as Clark was concerned. A 'heat of the moment' kind of thing; his adrenaline had surged and he'd run to someone's rescue wishing to get there quickly. Like Superman.

_"Can't help but see it can you?" Bruce had once asked when the team had finished one of its best missions to date. They'd won against the League of Evil or whatever and had stopped the renegade Red Tornado from destroying any and all humans he could find._

_"See what?" he asked a bit wary of what was going to be said. He really hated that knowing tone batman always used._

_"How well they work together," was the calm reply._

_"'They?'" Clark asked confused. "Who are you talking about?"_

_"The kids," he said sounding surprised at Clark for not jumping to the correct conclusion. However, his attention remained on his work. "They work well together."_

_Clark couldn't even say no. Bruce was right that the kids all worked well together despite their differences in ability and thought processes. They made the League look almost incompetent._

_"I guess," he's muttered softly as he stared at the artwork in Bruce's office. _

_Right, this was one of their clandestine meetings since he'd come to see Bruce and not really Batman. Bruce's hands flew over the keyboard as he ran an analysis on something in his various companies. His blue eyes were narrowed at the screen as if something wasn't adding up but he wasn't about to voice it. Clark felt for him; there were times an article wouldn't work with him no matter how hard he tried._

_Clark's own blue eyes fell on an article from four years prior and he felt them mist up with remembrance. It was the iconic picture of Batman holding up young Dick Grayson by the collar of his acrobatic uniform, bats flying about in the darkness, the full moon almost obliterating the sky behind the leafless trees around them. On its left was the article of Bruce's parents' deaths. On its right was the article of Bruce adopting Dick, both of them smiling what looked to be genuine smiles._

_He wanted to say something about it when Bruce cut him off._

_"They make us look like amateurs," he said. "Conner especially. He's gotten that temper under nice control considering he's fairly edgy. He's protective, I'll give him that. Also, he's dealing with your treatment quite well considering how hard it is to be ignored by his father."_

_"Are you trying to hurt my feelings again Bruce?"_

_Bruce's eyes lifted from the computer and bore into Clark's. There was a gentle fire there but there was something dangerous in there as well. Clark wasn't really sure what it had been made from but he had a feeling it went back to his parents' deaths. It seemed as if he still harbored the grudge but then again he was the king at holding a grudge. That dangerous fire was what made him flinch._

_"No. I've given up trying to _talk_ sense into you. You won't listen anyway."_

There wasn't much else Clark could think of when he now thought of the kids. He always returned to that conversation. Bruce had been right about the kids; Conner. He knew what he was doing when it came to wanting to protect his friends, he did it as fast as possible and as well as he could.

"You can stop smirking now," Clark sighed to Batman who smiled – not smirked, smiled – back at him.

"Good," Bruce's softer timbres rumbled at him. "Now, if you're going to put stock in him, I guess I will put stock in my kid as well; it's the least I can do apparently."

It was tempting to tell him to not be snide but Clark kept his mouth shut as he listened to Conner whisper the news into Robin's ear earning a hug and a soft whoop of joy.

"You really are the better father," Clark chuckled as he turned on his heal to stride to the teleporter. "I have to get back to Metropolis. Good luck with getting Robin back to Gotham in time for school tomorrow," he added with a chuckle. The machine whirred gladly before he stepped through it quietly.

"So…no more dodging your weapons?" Canary asked gently.

"Maybe," Batman muttered. "I'll be in Gotham if you need me. Don't call unless it's an emergency." He was striding toward the teleporter, clawed gloves shooting over the keys when Barry piped up.

"So…Robin can sleepover with the kids tonight?"

"Sure. It'll be his responsibility to get to school on time tomorrow."

He didn't need to super hearing to know Robin was scoffing at him.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Alright...Choir's done until January. I don't have to go back to school until January and I still need to read _Crime and Punishment_ and memorize a poem for AP Lit. Oof...darn procrastination. Oh well. This was like the last chapter in teh effect it got rewritten a few times. **

**Uh...I guess the character that'll be 'introduced/featured' in this is a device to show a softer side to the underworld of Gotham - because I feel that not all of the people in Gotham's harder places (the working girls and low level junkies and whatnot) are really all bad; they have shitty luck is all. Besides, we all know they see and hear things even Batman can't and are therefore useful allies (Ooh! Sherlock reference!). So anyway, if you don't understand that little part there's the explination.**

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><p>Snow was falling softly gently to the ground in Gotham when Conner landing on the slightly slick rooftop. It was slightly horrifying when his feet slipped but he tried to ignore the strangely human feeling of helplessness. He'd been hopping from one rooftop to another for hours, his search leading nowhere. November had come and gone and now the city was filled to the brim with Christmas Carolers and Santas ringing for donations to Salvation Army and the like. There were screaming kids whose screeching laughter echoed throughout the city as snow fell on their cheeks and melted into their hair like crystals.<p>

Winter was the perfect time for Freeze to run about loose he knew but he didn't dare say anything about the fact that he wasn't using the opportune time to run amok. No…Someone else was running loose and Conner wasn't sure he liked this person very much. Their hired guns were good considering everything too; they'd managed to sneak into some big gala the police had been holding – what with Christmas on the way – knocked out most of the recipients with gas and disappeared with a certain party favor.

It wasn't Batman who called them in either. It had been Superman and Wonder Woman who had also brought in Zatana and Red Arrow. Conner still wasn't quite sure what to think of the young sorceress other than she had an interesting feeling about her. However, Robin had mentioned something about magic being hurtful for Superman so he wanted to avoid ticking her off.

"Good morning Gotham City," the broadband radio station jeered loudly. Conner grunted in irritation at the voice that was more annoying than the announcer voice in the computer at home. He had a hard time believing it was morning already though. It felt later than that.

"_This city has more twists and turns than any cave known to man_," Artemis thought bitterly from her recent post.

They'd had to stay within a certain distance from each other so M'Gann could keep them all connected but it had made the search slow so they'd opted to use a certain place to check in with each other every two hours. They'd even made it so that if Conner got halfway across the city, he'd end up near one of the multiple placements they'd chosen.

Of course, it didn't really help he kept losing track of time which forced the others to use the radios. At least he wasn't getting frustrated and throwing it away this time. He was keeping it on, ready to feel his heart start jumping into hyper drive when he heard their voices right in his ear rather than in his head. He was routinely told that it shouldn't be normal to hear voices in one's head – Wally and Roy mainly. He guessed it was partly because of how he was cloned that he was somewhat okay with a voice in his head.

He'd set up a rule to himself though; he only wanted friends in his head. At least he was somewhat sure they wouldn't do something weird to his mind like Simon or the G-nomes.

"_That explains all the dead ends I keep finding_," Red Arrow's voice growls as he keeps moving. "_This place is a maze! How do those two find _anyone _in this hellhole?_"

Conner ignored the wish to shiver from the onslaught of foreign feelings – he could do without that part to be sure but it's a package deal. He'd learned that one day at school when M'Gann had gotten teased by someone and the cheerleaders protected her in his place. He'd felt…insignificant, pathetic, useless; the list went on and on. He couldn't even get it out of his head for days afterwards because M'Gann couldn't get it out of her head and she stayed connected with him all the time.

_"Someone bullied her?" Robin screeched, his jaw set in a snarl, fists clenched and mask narrowed dangerously. Conner had been surprised by the outburst from the stoic boy, not fully understanding the word he'd used. "Who did it? I'll rip their heads off!"_

_"Whoa Rob! Easy!" Wally had interjected. "The cheerleaders took care of it right? No worries right?" He'd added the last sentences chuckling nervously only to earn a dangerous look._

_"No, it's not alright. Miss M's new to that sort of treatment and besides, it's not cool to tease a girl. What'd they say to her Conner? What'd they do?"_

_He ended up spilling everything to the shorter boy who ended the conversation by stomping out of the room, steam screeching from his ears as he growled profanities under his breath and vowed to massacre the 'little shit heads' as he called them. _

_Though, Robin never acted on those words. Instead, he taught M'Gann a few choice statements for the aforementioned shit heads adding that she could always have them call a certain number so he could personally chew them out for being rude to her._

He blinked and wondered idly once again why Robin wasn't present. It was one thing if he were on a private mission with Batman but Conner could have sworn that Wonder Woman had asked Superman if it was really alright for them all to butt into something Batman was working on without telling Batman. There was something going on and Robin wasn't there to be a vague insight to it.

He's not sure why it bugs him so much when Robin isn't within sight, within feeling through the telepathy links. He tries to shove the feeling away but he knows everyone else has already felt them and identified them as his own. He can feel their own unease as he thinks about Robin being the vulnerable one of them as the youngest and being very human. Even Red Arrow, Artemis, and Kid Flash saw him as a dangerous commodity; young, head strong, vulnerable, thinks he's not. He is dangerous to himself and to those who want to protect him.

He's a great hero though. Is it because he knows how dangerous his job is, because he knows he's young, impetuous, and even hot headed? Or is it because he works in Gotham and is human and knows what those freaks in his city could and would do to humans?

"_This place is…really strange_," Kid Flash mumbled softly as he tried to avoid the thoughts Conner's feelings were spurring. "_It's crazy in one alley and then in the street it's like nothing happens past the building fronts. It's…not like home_."

"_It's not Central City KF_," Red Arrow snorts but there's an understanding in his thoughts. "_Let me guess, the night of your little field trip was relatively peaceful right?_" They didn't have to nod. They all knew they were already. They could feel it. "_It's Gotham. It was once voted the scariest city around remember?_"

"_How do those two survive this place?_" Kaldur asked softly, his disgust at the state of the canals and the bay becoming almost stagnant. "_The water is despicable and the city is turbid; how is it possible to survive this place?_"

"_Humans always find a way to do things like that_," M'Gann whispered almost admiringly. Conner can feel her awe at the city lights as she glides over them. She can't see what Wally and the rest of them are because she's so high up. All she can see are the lights and Conner knows it. "_They are amazing in that respect_."

"_They are dangerous_," Kaldur scowls as he leaps out of the waters in tangible relief.

Conner shook himself from the wet, greasy feel of Kaldur's skin as secretly as he could. It was so strange to know what people were feeling when you were having a different sensation than them. Conner could almost enjoy flying through M'Gann but at the same time felt strange when Kaldur sliced through the water like a rocket because he knew Superman might not be able to do that unless he was in a great rush.

"_When isn't he?_" Red Arrow snickered back to Conner. The clone didn't even have to growl in response. "_Sorry. This telepathy thing's pretty strange isn't it?_"

"_Oh please this is more than 'pretty strange' buddy_," Zatana chuckled as she teleported herself to a new rooftop. She was skirting the edge of M'Gann's reach but she was strangely linked to Artemis since that little trip they took together somewhere. They'd bonded pretty well apparently and the link made Zatana's skirting the edge easier to maintain since Artemis was in the range.

"_At least you all are friendly_," Wonder Woman's voice chimed gently. She was flying too. Conner could almost enjoy the feel of the wind on his skin through her. "_Now, I have an update for you all._"

Well that didn't sound promising.

"_What is it?_" Kid Flash asked carefully. He didn't want to sound snide or rude to the woman who could kill him easily if she so desired.

"_Superman and I managed to find Batman; finally_," she muttered irritably as she made herself hover in the air like the royal she was. Conner could feel her crossing her arms under her breasts as she spoke.

"_Why do I get the feeling we're not seeing Robin tonight?_" Roy muttered bitterly. Conner leaned against a wall for a rooftop door as he listened and concentrated on his comrades' feelings and thoughts. He could agree with the bitterness at not seeing Robin once again considering it was his city they were in. however, he was far more concerned about why they may not see the boy.

"_It's not likely_," Wonder Woman sighed as she landed with a soft tap onto a roof. "_By the way, I believe we told you we were trying to handle a kidnapping._"

"_Yes_," Kaldur stated. "_However, forgive me, but we never learned who we were looking for so we were just doing a patrol round or six. All we know is that the person disappeared in a police Christmas gala._"

"_We managed to finally figure it out exactly who it was who disappeared_," Wonder Woman sighed. "_There really are moments we should just let Superman beat Batman to a pulp._"

Conner could feel her anger rolling into him and for some reason he could wholeheartedly agree. Batman was a bit too stubborn for his own good.

"_Who are we looking for then?_" Zatana asked her voice clearer than before. She was back in the range then. Conner felt her calm worry and concern flow past Wonder Woman's anger and frustration and began to feel better.

"_Richard 'Dick' Grayson_," Superman's deep rumbling voice stated calmly as he landed next to Wonder Woman. The telepathic field suddenly got cold.

"_WHAT?_" Roy roared. Conner could feel the boy pull at an arrow and prepare to hop to the rooftop Superman and Wonder Woman were on. Conner felt him land shakily, getting caught by Superman when he nearly lost balance completely. However, his anger reached out faster and more dangerously than Wonder Woman's.

"_Red Arrow_," Superman stated calmly though Conner noticed the twinge of worry in his words. "_Please calm down. I know your identity is friends with him but you have to have a clear head if we're to find him at all_."

Roy ground his teeth together and Conner decided he was done listening to the pointless arguments. They should be looking not talking.

"_I'm going_," he growled. "_Where do we want to meet up?_"

"_On the police department's rooftop, next to the Bat-signal_," Wonder Woman spoke quickly as she patted Superman on the shoulder to keep him calm. "_Try to get there in two hours Conner_."

"_Alright_," he said before leaping out of M'Gann's range and racing off towards an area of the city that he remembered Robin calling The Narrows. A place filled to the brim with druggies and pimps and whores and the like. He knew it was a hard place to live but Robin had called it something else; the Frontline.

In all reality, Conner wasn't even sure that they'd find the boy alive now. The gala had been two days ago and he barely understood the whole 'twenty-four hour' time frame being the major factor in kidnappings. He understood that the longer someone was gone, the less likely it was to find them. If they were alive, there was possibility they'd either developed Stockholm Syndrome or just didn't have a memory past their kidnappers being 'family' to them.

However, he felt that if someone were to really try to find a loved one, the twenty-four hour window wouldn't mean much in the end. He had a feeling that if someone gave enough of a damn, they'd find what they wanted to find – along with other things to be sure but that was part of the thrill of looking.

"Really," someone huffed in an alleyway, their voice soft enough that Conner almost missed it. He slowed to a stop, making sure to not slip on the ice. "Can you believe this town?"

"Not really," another person mumbled back. It was two women gossiping, he realized. They were probably young going off their voices plus they were probably speaking to each other via balcony windows or something. Glancing over the roof top edge, he found his hunch to be correct – much to his amazement.

"What happened this time?" the second woman asked as she flicked pale blonde hair out of her tired eyes.

She wasn't wearing much in the way of clothes; her cheeks rosy form the nipping wind. Her coat looked plenty warm though and the room she leaned out of had a small fire in the hearth behind her. Conner caught a glimpse of a man's legs in tangled sheets behind her, the glow of the fire gleaming orange in the dim lighting.

"Did you hear about that crazy shit at the police Christmas Gala?" the first, a busty brunette asked from her window, eyes gleaming with something Conner couldn't quite recognize. The blonde looked at her with bored eyes.

"No," she mumbled. "What happened?"

The brunette smirked as she wiggled about, like she couldn't stay still. Her clothes were even skimpier than the blonde's; a strip of black covering her breasts – barely – and a red skirt than may as well have been underwear the sum of her attire. She didn't have someone with her and she was fairly giddy considering the time of night.

"Some idiots had enough balls to break in and take someone!" the brunette laughed.

"Wow," the blonde drawled not at all fazed. "Who?"

"That little kid…you know the one from the circus?"

"The one Wayne took in?" the blonde asked, her voice showing more interest than her face. "Why take him? He's harmless."

"Not to the guy who killed his parents," the brunette laughed with a finger poking holes in the air as she waved it about in an effort to seem smart. "Need I remind you that he had a hearing yesterday? Without that kid, there's no one else to give a council a sympathy vote to keep him in jail. All they'll have to go on is his behavior in there."

"I'll bet he's been an angel," the blonde sneered darkly, her face showing more feeling than before. Conner could understand the irritation. He'd been hearing a lot about someone named Zucco from Red Arrow for the past couple weeks because it had something to do with one of his identity's friends. He couldn't say he liked this Zucco person very much.

"That's for certain," the brunette chuckled happily. "He was let out this morning!"

"You sound so pleased."

"He was my best customer," the brunette laughed.

"If he's smart, he'll run away from this town before Batman finds out that he's out and gives him the threat of staying away from that kid," the blonde shot back. "Personally, I'd slit his throat myself if I thought I could do it."

"Oh stop kidding," the brunette laughed as she stuck out her tongue. She waved and disappeared into her room.

"I wasn't," the blonde hissed as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Zucco is a sick bastard. Whatever the Bat does to him, he deserves it."

"Think you can tell me much of anything Miss?" Conner called gently from above. Her head shot up to find him leaning over the roof edge, chin on his crossed arms. "Sorry to shock you but I'm looking for that kid you two were just talking about."

"R-really?" she asked eyes wide. "W-why?"

"Because I'm one of those people that gives a damn about others even if I don't know them very well," Conner explained easily. She gave him a kind look. "I don't know much about this Zucco guy though. Can you tell me what you know of him?"

"You've got manners Bats don't have," she smiled. "All I know is that Zucco is the kind of man that will kill a family for refusing to give him 'protection' money." She made air quotes on the word protection which made him worry a bit about her connotation. "Hey…Is Bats looking for him too?"

"Yes…Why?"

"Just wondering," she sighed. She took a pull from her cigarette and blew it out through her nose. "He saved the kid before…when the corrupt cops took him to that ravine they used for dumping the bodies. There was some award given to the woman who followed the cops and reported on it."

"That doesn't really answer my question," Conner smiled. "You don't seem to like Zucco like your friend over there and you worried over the kid."

"The kid grew past wanting revenge and trust me when I say it's hard to do," she said sadly. "Wayne helped I think."

"Possibly," Conner murmured wondering idling why he'd even opened his mouth in the first place. Maybe it was the fact she'd looked like she needed to talk to someone.

"Hey…if you find that kid, make sure Zucco knows to stay away from him will you?" she asked gently as she gazed up at him.

"I'm sure Batman will take care of that for me," Conner smiled. HE was about to leave, her smile acting as a good-bye when she spoke up again.

"Hey…You a friend of the Boy Wonder's?" she asked.

"Yeah…" he said, standing now, his shirt showing the bright red 'S' against ebony. She smiled at him again, this time brighter.

"Tell him I'm taking his advice will you?"

"Sure," he said with a soft smile before leaping away to return to his search.

He'd probably lost track of time again but he didn't think he cared anymore. The woman had been nice to talk to and he didn't really care if Batman gave him crap for talking to someone who'd obviously been given guidance from Robin. Hell, he'd probably not mind if Clark chewed him out. He had come out with at least a bit of information; a motive for a kidnapping.

Though, from the arguing he could hear on the other side of the city, he doubted he had much to worry about. Batman and Superman were arguing over the fact that he never called for help despite the fact he 'needed' it. Wonder Woman was acting interference for them both, making sure there were no damaging blows shot at either. The rest of the team was going on through the motions of searching whilst simultaneously doing some sightseeing. Gotham was strangely pretty in some ways especially at night.

"_I can't believe how stubborn you can be_," Superman was saying.

"_You're one to talk_," Batman shot back. It went on and on.

"You'd think they'd be over this stuff by now," Roy muttered into the headsets. "Hey Superboy, I'm near you. Mind if I join up with you for a bit?"

"No, I don't mind. Probably best to have someone who'll get me to pay attention to the time around huh," Conner laughed as he skidded to a halt, his boots barely gripping the icy roofs. "Hey…are the others beginning to team up?"

"Not really," Roy muttered. "I'm just bored as heck and felt like at least trying to get to know someone the others like."

"Uh-oh, do I sense you trying to bond with others?" Conner laughed.

"Ha ha," Roy jeered. "Wait for me, I'll find you."

"Whatever," Conner sighed, leaning against a roof door's little shed to wait. He didn't really have to wait all that long considering Roy seemed adamant on avoiding the others in this lousy attempt to bond. He landed with a slight skid nearby and Conner smiled at him warmly enough.

"I think Robin's rubbed off on you," Roy muttered his tone a little relieved at the idea.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Conner mumbled softly. "I only hang out with him more than most of the others when I get the chance."

"There are good reasons for that," Roy sighed his tone suddenly wistful. Conner gave him a look. "What? The kid's nice to almost everyone unless they manage to tick him off and let's face it; he's not as short tempered as Batman."

"No one is as short tempered as Batman," Conner laughed as he hopped to another roof. Roy followed quickly after him, his boots not finding nearly as much purpose as he probably would have liked. Conner caught his arm and waited for him to steady himself before letting go. Roy gave him a kind glance before moving on to the next roof.

"True but Batman has his own reasons," Roy explained. "I don't really know them – other than this city is nuts – but I know Ollie has reasons to be a little short tempered at times."

"Batman's always annoyed though," Conner replied as he landed a building away and scanned the streets before moving on.

"This city's crazier than Star City Superboy," Roy chuckled. "Hear anything worth noting?"

"No. I don't see anything much either. Have you seen much of anything?"

"No but I don't have super sight."

They smiled at each other before leaping to a new building, feet once again barely finding purchase. Conner sighed. Were all the roofs going to be like that or were they going to get better depending on which part of town one was in? That couldn't be completely right though considering he'd been near downtown and the roofs had been about as nasty there as they were here. Given, the ice seemed to be thicker in the Narrows than the city.

After a while, Roy glanced at his watch and muttered they barely had time to get to the Station on time if they didn't turn back soon. Conner didn't really want to leave the Narrows though, something about it pulling at him to stay. Something about how the noise of the streets could be swallowed into pure silence with ease. Something about how a common working girl could speak about a hero like he were a friend. There was something about the Narrows that screamed that he would want to stay.

The gun shots in the distance helped make up his mind.

"Superboy!" Roy yelled as he shot off towards the shots.

"Gunshots!" Conner shot back over his shoulder before he kicked himself off another building to propel himself closer to the sound.

"Shit," Roy breathed a hand shooting to his ear to call the others before following.

Conner came to a skidding halt on the roof of a warehouse, his fingertips adding friction to his near crash into the skylight window. He could hear cackling laughter coming from within along with a nervous, higher pitched laugh accompanying it. He recognized the laugh; Joker. His eyes narrowed as he looked in through the window to find a shock of green hair, purple suit, and pale skin moving with a jerking grace that could only be captured by one man with that much natural swagger; Joker.

"I hate clowns," he hissed as his eyes caught sight of a red and black, female jester of sorts following behind the giggling madman. Her face was as white as Jokers but her eyes were covered by a domino mask that was like Robin's save for the red highlights that glinted off it in the sparse light. In her delicate hands was a huge gun that she hefted with an effortless strength.

They walked past two dead bodies and moved toward another person who was still very much alive. Tied up, gagged, and scared out of their minds but alive none the less. Joker was saying something to his friend but Conner wasn't paying much attention since he was too busy looking at the boy they were approaching slowly.

The boy wore a ruffled suit, the tie disheveled and a dark bruise beginning to form on his neck from where the tie had been used to quiet him once. His hands were tied behind his back and he was shrinking into a corner in an effort to avoid Joker and his mystery friend and the blood oozing from the bodies. His blue eyes were wide with fear.

_Grayson_, Conner thought, his own eyes widening in surprise.

"Ah Harley look, it's Wayne's little ward," Joker cackled. "Turn that frown upside down kid! Laugh a little! Harley, the gun!"

The woman, Harley, hefted the gun with a soft grunt and Joker swung it away from her hands with less effort than she'd used to carry it. He pointed it at the boy with a creepy laugh. The boy's eyes widened in fear once more as Joker shouldered the gun.

"Ah…this city really has gone to the Bats lately kiddo," Joker drawled to Harley. "Really…it's so difficult to find reliable help now-a-days. Especially professional ones."

"True Puddin'," Harley giggled. "So very true." She looked half scared though going form the way she was cowering behind the green haired man.

"And these two showed so much promise of being relatively good lackeys," Joker sighed. He shrugged. "Oh well. If they can't finish a job, I have no choice but to finish them."

"I agree completely!" Her tone suggested otherwise. "Old Zucco is out of jail and the kid's no longer needed right Puddin'?"

"Right Harley!" Joker laughed. "Sorry kid…Wait…no I'm not!" He let loose with an earsplitting cackle and his finger twitched.

Conner was through the window in less than a second, landing with a thud before shooting towards the boy. His arms wrapped around Grayson in a firm grip and took the sharp flag to his shoulder blades with not much more than a grunt. Scared blue eyes met his own as an enraged curse from Joker.

"No! Not again! You won't ruin my punch lines again!" Joker roared.

_Twang!_

"Superboy, up here! Quick!" Roy yelled as he loaded another arrow, smoke filling the warehouse as Harley and Joker hacked from breathing it in. Conner didn't have to think twice as he lifted Grayson to his chest and leapt out of the building as fast as he could manage. His boots slipped a bit as he landed and Roy yelled at him to run just before a bullet skimmed past his shoulder.

"Red Arrow!" Conner yelled.

"Go!" Roy yelled as he shot another smoking arrow into the warehouse with a grunt. "That'll only keep them so busy," he added as he moved toward Conner. "I already called the others but we have to worry about him right now."

Conner glanced at the frightened boy in his arms whose hands were still tied behind his back and a piece of cloth still over his mouth. He looked like hell but he was alive and he was giving both of them a thankful look.

"Can you get out of here with that arm?" Conner asked worriedly. He was sure he could carry two people if he had to but he wasn't sure he could handle it if one person was tied up and couldn't hold onto him as he jumped from roof to roof.

"Yeah, don't worry about me," Roy mumbled, a blush rising over his cheeks as he digested what Conner was offering. He didn't want the help but he didn't mind it being offered. "Let's go so we can untie him alright? I'll call the others and tell them who they're dealing with while we get him to the commissioner."

"Alright. Mind if I go ahead a bit?"

"No. Get moving."

Conner nodded quickly before tightening his grip of Grayson and prepared to leap. He would have said hang on but Dick had already buried his face in the crook of Conner's neck, breath hitching as he prepared for the bigger boy to jump.

_Do it_, Robin's voice whimpered in his head then causing him to blink in surprise. When had Robin gotten there? Hell, why'd he sound so scared? _Just freakin' jump already._

Conner leapt into the air, bounding over three city blocks and landing firmly on a new roof before he took off again. With each landing, Dick's breathing hiccupped and he grunted when Conner's boots found purchase. When he was a good few miles away, he stopped and put the kid down gently to rip the ropes on his wrists to shreds. Dick didn't waste time getting the cloth out of his mouth once his hands were free again.

"That makes twice you've saved me," he murmured softly as he looked around the roof tops to gain some sort of bearing. "Where are we exactly?" he added, gazing up at Conner, his eyes betraying something akin to knowledge.

"We're in the Narrows," Conner said quickly as he glanced away from the boy to see if Red Arrow had followed or not. He didn't have to try very hard to find him though. Conner smiled at him when he landed a little roughly near them, a hand shooting to his shoulder with a wince.

"You should have seen Batman's face when he saw those two clowns," Roy laughed as he walked over. "I told him we had Grayson though and he's ordered we take him to Commissioner Gordon and keep an eye on him."

"Whoo," Dick groaned. "Saves me once and he thinks I can't take of myself."

"Batman doesn't think anyone's capable of taking care of themselves," Roy sighed. "Well…no, he thinks Robin can take care of himself – somewhat."

"How's your arm?" Conner asked Roy quickly, a hint of worry in his voice. Dick's eyes glinted with something close to worry as well and he moved to untie the cloth from his neck as he eyed the gaping injury to Roy's shoulder.

"Looks worse than it is," Roy shrugged – with a bit of difficulty. "I'll be fine."

"At least wrap it with something," Dick mumbled as he tossed the cloth over to the red headed archer. Roy caught it with his good hand and shot the kid a nice smile.

"Sure," Roy sighed as he tied the makeshift bandage to his arm, ignoring the fact that it had been used as a gag earlier. A bandage was a bandage and he needed one. He wasn't going to refuse a kid they'd just saved either – given, part of it was because he sort of knew the kid socially and didn't really feel like arguing with him. Once it was tied he readied a pulley arrow and gave Conner a meaningful look.

"Ready to go?" Conner asked arms up in a warning that he'd have to carry Dick again.

"Sure," Dick said. "Jim's going to worry if I don't show up soon won't he?"

The kid smirked as he wrapped his arms around Conner's neck as the clone picked him up bridal style and shifted him to a firmer grip. Conner could have sworn the smirk looked like one of Robin's but he wasn't going to mention it at that moment. The mission was still in action and it didn't look like it'd be done any time soon.

"Oh jeeze," Roy muttered looking at his watch. "I completely forgot about what day it was."

"Huh?" Conner asked as he got ready to leap again.

"Tonight – last night by now – was Christmas eve," Roy mumbled. "Aren't they telling you and Miss Martian anything?"

"So that's why I've been having so much free time," Conner muttered.

Dick chuckled. "I think this is the first time I've ever met someone who didn't know what Christmas was." Conner tried to not blush at the admiring tone that swam in the kid's voice. Dick leaned close to his ear then and whispered, "Avoid mistletoe."

"Mistletoe?" Conner asked. "Why?"

"Well, it's poisonous if you eat it," Roy muttered as he shot the arrow. "Though, it's better known for the tradition that if two people – usually a romantic couple – meet under it, they get to share a kiss."

"If you have someone special, maybe you could give it a try," Dick snickered good naturedly. Conner blushed and shook his head.

"I think I'll avoid the stuff…whatever it looks like."

"I think that's a good idea," Roy laughed. "Let's go. This mission's almost over anyway and I'm sure Wayne will love to have his ward back for Christmas."

Conner gripped Dick a little closer and looked into his blue eyes to find the kid seemingly egging him on to leap.

"Alright," Conner breathed. "Let's go."

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**Alright...Oh man I hate the end of vacations.**

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><p>It was about a week after Christmas – Conner finding he'd missed his chances to get people presents but somehow got them some anyway – when Robin reappeared. He was healthy and all but Conner knew the babysitting look on Canary's face when she pulled him aside. He tried to not listen in but his super hearing wasn't exactly being picky.<p>

"Are you sure you're alright?" she whispered.

"I'm fine; angry I missed all the fun but fine," he replied with a weary smile. Canary sighed and left him alone which opened him up to come over to Conner.

"Why's the neck of your sweater so tall?" Conner asked before he thought to mention that M'Gann and the others were out on a little scouting trip of sorts – all trying to find a belated Christmas gift or two for Robin because the holiday had caught them all by surprise and Christmas day had been held on the following Wednesday morning. Then again, maybe it was a good idea to not mention it.

"It's called a turtleneck and it's to make sure your neck stays warm without having to worry about a scarf," Robin explained with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Plus, Batman got it for me for Christmas – sorry for missing out on that by the way."

"It's fine," Conner sighed. "You missed out on Red Arrow and me saving Dick Grayson from Joker and his girlfriend."

"Harley Quinn," Robin confirmed. "She used to be a shrink in Arkam until Joker turned her into a giggling fan girl."

"What's her normal name?" Conner asked his interest piqued.

"Harleen Quinzel," Robin said as he ran a hand through his hair, the sleeve of his sweater falling slightly to reveal a raw skin on his wrist. Conner's hand shot out faster than he could think of stopping himself. Robin stared at him, his eyebrows nearing his hairline. "What is it?" he asked.

"What's this?" Conner asked as he inspected the raw skin that looked like it should have been bandaged up. Conner's blue eyes roared with irritation and rage. "What is this?"

"It's raw skin," Robin mumbled. "From the ropes, from the hostage situation Batman and I had to deal with yesterday. It was…petty robbery of a bank but the guys were on top of things you know?"

"There hasn't been a bank robbery in the news and these aren't fresh enough to be from yesterday," Conner growled. "Tell me the truth."

"My identity was kidnapped okay?" Robin mumbled softly, his eyes suddenly interested in his shoes. Conner frowned and looked at the raw skin that looked old enough to have been received around Christmas.

"No," Conner muttered. "It's not alright. That's why you've been gone for so long?"

"Part of it to be sure," Robin muttered bitterly.

Conner sighed through his nose as he looked at the boy's wrists skeptically. He wasn't even sure why the hell it worried him so much that Robin's identity had been in such a dangerous situation. Who the hell was he exactly to get _in _such a situation?

"Come on," Conner muttered. "We've got some stuff for those injuries."

"Thanks Conner," Robin murmured before Conner yanked him down the hall to the medical bay. "You don't have to yank me you know?"

"Knowing you, I do."

"That almost hurt Conner," Robin chuckled.

"Sit down will you?" Conner asked as he gently pushed Robin to sit on a stool before lathering on an ointment over his raw skin. Once he was done, he pulled the sweater collar form Robin's neck and gave the boy a glare.

"What? I had to dress up for something and I had a tie on," Robin mumbled with a blush.

"Speaking of ties," Conner muttered gently, "Grayson had some of these same injuries."

"No kidding."

"Something weird happened that night too by the way…I haven't told the others about it though," Conner whispered.

"Why not?"

"I don't think they'd believe me."

"So…what happened?"

"I…I could have sworn I heard you in my head at one point," Conner admitted. "M'Gann has sworn up and down that she never could get a feeling on you but it didn't really seem to matter since you were supposedly on another mission that night."

"The link must be really strong," Robin murmured softly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Robin mumbled looking away.

Conner resisted the urge to press the injuries with a slight darkness in his blue eyes. He didn't understand what Robin was saying and it didn't make him glad to know he couldn't understand a friend. He was supposed to know what was bothering his friends wasn't he? He was like an extended family member, one that had a better chance of seeing his other family members than a normal extended family. It bothered him to know he couldn't help a person he saw as family let alone understand them.

"Do you know how Joker got out of Arkam this time?" Conner asked, deciding it was probably best to just try to focus on something that didn't involve Robin's identity since he wasn't really able to tell him anything about that sort of thing.

"Not really," Robin sighed. "It's not exactly a new thing to know but Joker always finds a way to escape his cell. When Harley joined up, it got a lot more complicated but he likes leaving her behind a lot."

"Some team," Conner muttered a bit darkly.

"Well, he's not exactly a team player if you know what I mean."

"I don't but I'll take your word for it."

"Trust me; he uses his teammates just as much as any corrupt cop uses his job to make money. Only, Joker takes it all a little further since he'd happily shoot his teammates to make a clean get away for himself."

That made Conner shiver. He'd shoot his own teammates if he felt they were useless? What kind of person did that to people who trusted and followed them? The whole problem however was that what would happen if Joker's teammates were turned by Batman by him making a good point or three? Conner wasn't really sure what was happening when people decided to trust madmen let alone didn't seem to care what those madmen did to them.

"So…why would anyone hire him out other than knowing he'd definitely get Batman's attention?" Conner asked with confusion marring his face. Robin scoffed softly.

"I don't think he was hired for that task," he replied. "It's far more likely he followed a rumor and ended up there. Anything for a little thrill right? What's better than finding the ward of a big shot like Bruce Wayne and ending the chance of a rescue?"

"That's sick," Conner muttered, hands falling from Robin's wrists, blue yes glaring at the bandages. Something about bandages made him sick to his stomach.

He guessed it was mainly because he kept seeing them on only one person and it was rare to see only a few bandages on him. This, he guessed, was a small amount for Robin. That is, if the stories were anything to go off of, Batman had gotten his back broken in multiple places, had broken ribs, had broken arms, had broken legs, and had sustained head injuries. He couldn't help but think that being a hero was something that should be left to those with powers. At least they had some sort of ability to avoid being hurt as much as a normal human.

"You know…you look a lot like Clark right now," Robin murmured gently. Conner's eyes narrowed at his friend who watched him impassively.

"How's that?" Conner asked with a slight growl.

Yes, it was something of an unspoken rule to never talk about Clark around Conner in certain moments. If Conner brought him up, it meant that he wasn't brooding so they may as well talk about the Man of Steel until he went and said he didn't want to talk any more. However, it was a tentative thing and they'd all secretly agreed to let Conner have the say in whether or not Superman was to be mentioned.

"One of those things you two have in common," Robin muttered with a shrug. "You two dislike seeing people hurt, especially friends."

"That doesn't tell me anything."

"One of those things about how when I was starting out, I got injured a lot because I was new and these guys don't really know the meaning of going easy on people." Robin sent him a smile then. "He had the same look on his face as you do."

Conner frowned a bit. He wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. It was always hard to tell with Robin. He was always a little hard to read. Conner decided it was one of those things that Batman drilled into his head in training. Maybe it was just something he did since he could and because it kept people on edge.

"Nice to know," Conner mumbled. "Stop getting injured and I'll stop looking like him."

Robin pursed his lips, rolling them into his mouth a bit before looking away from his friend. Conner knew that look. It was a decision to stay silent despite having a witty comeback.

"Just spill it will you?"

"You're his clone," Robin sighed pressing a palm against his temple. "Good clones, like you, will always look like the one whose genetics they've copied. Of course, that's really only if the clone is well made."

"Cadmus made we well I guess," Conner muttered.

"It was their job," Robin stated. "They knew what they wanted to achieve and they didn't really hold back." He ran a hand through his hair then. "Of course, I still wonder where they'd gotten Superman's blood to copy it."

"Great question," Conner mumbled.

"It's a million dollar one to be sure."

"Questions can be worth money?"

"Only very good ones Conner; only the very good ones."

Something about air outside of the exercise area for the prisoners seemed…purer to Zucco as he stepped outside of the gates. He'd been given back the clothes he'd been wearing when he'd been arrested – a nice Armani suit and tie – and all he could say was that it felt good to be in normal clothes again. Then there was the fact that outside the gates his lawyer was present to greet him with a coy smile.

"Welcome back to civilization," he said kindly. "Forgive me but Joker seemed to crash the party," he added with a sly whisper. Zucco frowned a bit but then reminded himself that as long as he was out, there wasn't much that could cause him issue. However, Batman was something else to consider. He'd be a problem no doubt.

"That's fine," he stated calmly, his dual colored eyes roaming over the area behind his lawyer. He spotted the boy who had been sent to him with the news of the plan. He didn't really feel the need to even act like he noticed the young man.

However, he would not act like he didn't see Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon standing nearby, speaking to each other as congenially as they could bother to manage. Gordon was obviously irritated that his system had failed again. Wayne looked sad that his 'son' would have to know the man who killed his family was out again but there was something in those blue eyes that seemed to scream with rage.

He suddenly found himself hoping he'd never see that man truly mad.

"I think it will be best to move operations out of the city for a while," Zucco whispered to his lawyer. The man smiled a bit sadly at him but nodded in agreement.

"I have a wonderful friend or two in a few promising cities," he said, slipping a couple cards into Zucco's pockets. "I've already taken the liberty of calling them. I'm sure they've managed to set something up for you."

"Wonderful," Zucco sighed as he patted the pocket. He had a nagging feeling that where he'd end up would be out of the way and shabby but he'd deal with it in due time. He wasn't very worried about that bit. He just didn't want to be in town when Batman found out he was out.

He doubted that person didn't already know.

He'd gotten to his private apartment, finding it covered in dust due to disuse. The phone still worked though, and he'd called the airport as soon as he found that little fact out. He highly doubted that there'd be any problem with getting a ticket to the farthest town he could manage. Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't find the money to pay for it. He had plenty just sitting in the banks due to his accounts being left to grow off interest rates. They hadn't really been able to freeze them after everything that happened. He'd have money to spare.

Though…once he was at the airport, he couldn't shake the feeling that there were eyes on his back. The feeling didn't leave until he got onto the plane and he still shivered at the remembrance of it. As the plane took off, he tried to silence that inane fear.

The problem was he'd managed to miss the old man whose face almost looked like someone else's watching him with scathing blue eyes, hands in tight fists. He'd missed Bruce Wayne's calculating and hateful gaze on him.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Alright...does anyone who was following this before remember how Robin and Conner were sent back in time through Warp? Well...this arc is a remix of that only it has Savage in it. Anyone remeber him? He's a bitch to write.**

**Don't get mad that I'm "not following" Zucco's little add-in. Just read the story and you'll see what I'm going to do with him - besides, anyone who watched the original Batman animated series knows that Robin was in college during those first few seasons, showed up sparingly, and in _Robin's Reckoning_ he chased down Zucco. Maybe, since I do have this habit of tying stories I've read into my FanFics, I may be mixing that with this? Whoops...was that a spoiler? Darn.**

**Let's see how this chapter goes.**

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><p>They were storming some warehouse. Conner knew that much. There was something about this Vandal Savage guy that had Wonder Woman in a screeching rage and even Superman on edge. Something about the man also had Hawkwoman cursing in Thanagarian, her friend Hawkman trying to calm her down – whilst trying to get himself calmed as well. Conner didn't see anything all that amazing about him from the picture.<p>

The warehouse seemed to have been abandoned a few years ago but Conner couldn't help but notice the strange lack of dust on certain pieces of equipment – not to mention the expansive floors. There were few places like this that he'd seen without any dust on the walls, floors, and equipment like this place. It wasn't right. He almost thought it was as wrong as Zucco disappearing into thin air.

Robin didn't seem to have taken that all that well either.

_"He murdered a family because they refused to pay for his so called protection," Robin had explained bitterly. "There were only two survivors and one of them is crippled. Some survival."_

Conner sighed at the memory. It wasn't really normal for him to think that Robin was ticked off about a petty mafia member. It was easier to think of Robin ticked off at Joker or Freeze rather than a petty murderer. Though…he had read up on the Grayson family when he'd noticed Robin had given him the file along with the others.

It was still a bit difficult to think that someone killed over green colored paper. He didn't fully understand this whole thing about how paper had value when you put ink and pictures and symbols on it. The same went for hunks of metal stamped with pictures of dead men and monuments he had yet to see.

His schoolmates seemed to give him odd looks about his inability to use – understand – money. M'Gann had a better understanding of it than he did – much to his chagrin. He had a sneaking suspicion Kaldur knew the human money system better than he did too. Everyone seemed to have a better grasp on it than he did. Everything human went over his head.

Robin landed with a soft tap above his head. He glanced up to find the Boy Wonder crouching on the top a few wood crates, his domino mask with hardly any white in it considering he was glaring over the warehouse's expanse. Conner watched him a bit worriedly. He wasn't sure what to think about how strangely silent Robin was being lately.

"See anything?" he asked softly with a sigh. Robin glanced down at him and couldn't quite shrug off the worried look on Conner's face when he saw it.

"No…What's biting you?"

Conner looked confused. "Nothing's biting me," he muttered as he looked himself over a bit confused. Robin snorted, a hand shooting over his mouth and nose as he tried to stifle the sound. Conner gave him a confused glare. "What?"

"It's an expression," Robin snickered. "It's like asking what's wrong."

"Then just ask what's wrong."

"No need to sound so dejected Superboy," Robin snickered, his fist up to his mouth in a vain attempt to strangle the laughter.

"Well forgive me for not understanding a human expression," Conner grumbled childishly. Robin snickered harder. "Would you stop laughing at me?"

"If you'd stop being so entertaining I would," Robin smiled happily. Conner sighed; secretly glad to see that smile back on Robin's face.

"Glad to know I'm entertaining," Conner retorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you over whatever was biting you now?"

"A bit," Robin shrugged.

"Then I'm getting over what's bothering me," Conner replied easily. Robin smiled at his friend a bit wistfully; idly wondering what had been bothering his friend but he wasn't about to press when they were on a mission and should be paying attention. Savage was supposedly not a person to trifle with but then again nor was Kobra.

"Great," Robin sighed as he shifted and dropped to the floor beside Conner. "I think…Did you read up on this guy?"

"Yeah," Conner sighed as he slunk through the crates. Robin followed almost soundlessly behind him, his cape barely even moving as he followed the broader boy. "I didn't find out much though; just that he's had a few prior run-ins with the League. Something about time travel to something called a World War 'I' 'I' and also something about a foreign princess."

Robin snickered again.

"What is it now?" Conner groaned, feeling M'Gann reach his head again, the others – the usual ones at least – following her. From the look on Robin's face he'd noticed the thinner boy had noticed it too.

"The way you pronounced it," Robin chuckled. "It's said World War Two."

"Then why put two 'I's there?"

"Roman numerals," Robin explained. "I'll show them to you sometime."

"Alright…Make sure you do."

Robin smiled at him with a bit of a mischievous glint on his face. Conner found himself wondering once more what color the boy's eyes were. For some reason he wanted them to be Grayson's deep blue. Maybe it was because he'd been around the kid and saved him a couple times that he wanted it that way. It would be nice to have eyes that had looked up to him.

He found himself thinking again on how Robin's voice had been there right before he jumped to another roof top a few weeks before. He was still wondering just how strong the telepathic bonds were for him to have heard Robin's voice when he wasn't supposed to be anywhere near them at that time. They must have been strong for Conner to have heard him. Maybe it was just his imagination though; Robin did have the same communicators they did. Maybe he'd just happened to have been keeping an eye on them and had called in with a tip or two.

"_Is it possible to pay attention to the mission?_" Kaldur's voice echoed in their minds, low and firm with commanding airs. Conner could just imagine Robin rolling his eyes.

"_Sure Aqualad, we'll do that_," Robin replied with a bit of snark in his tone. His hand gripped Conner's t-shirt sleeve gently and tugged it a bit. Conner shook his head with a soft snort before following the shorter boy.

"_He sounds better_," Wally's voice laughed.

"_Glad to hear_," Artemis sighed, fingering her bowstring. She sounded sarcastic but there was a glow of joy in the background. M'Gann was giggling in the background somewhere too.

"_Everyone please_," Kaldur chided gently. "_Focus on the mission_."

"_Yes Fearless Leader_," most of them chimed back – Artemis, Wally, and Robin. M'Gann was giggling again while Kaldur groaned at their apparent immaturity. Conner smiled gently to himself and at the back of Robin's head. It was good to see the kid smiling again. He seemed more natural with the smile on his face than a frown or a scowl.

They moved towards the east side of the warehouse, Conner thinking the place was bigger than it should have been if one went off the blueprints of it. It seemed too long and a bit too high to be to code. Robin shrugged it off as permit allowances or a few feet on at least height but he didn't fully understand why there'd been lead installed in the walls and roof.

That couldn't really be explained away all that easily though – especially when Superman said his x-ray vision had proved that the lead went quite a few feet down beneath them. Conner could hear extra floors vibrating under his footsteps like the ground was unnaturally hollow. He was a bit tempted to jump into the rafters and let gravity drag him through the concrete floors but that would be too loud.

They were supposed to be stealthy.

He was tired of stealthy.

"Hey," Robin suddenly hissed to him. They'd searched their entire section and had so far found nothing of interest. Trust Robin to find a secret door, the pitch black opening gaping at them, Robin looking small next to it. "Think we should look?"

Conner nodded an affirmative, pressing a finger to his ear to signal them they'd found something. Naturally, as he did so, Robin disappeared into the darkness. He growled and followed after the boy thinking hard about their position and where he'd found the door so M'Gann would get the others to come to back them up.

He heard a _whoosh_ behind him and a muttered curse from Wally before it was followed by the speedster scrambling through after them – hopefully. It was darker than it had seemed from the warehouse but Conner could manage a bit well with his high leveled hearing. Robin…he narrowed his eyes and saw the faint green glow of night vision goggles in front of him. He smiled wondering why he'd even bothered being worried.

"Wow," Robin breathed, pulling the goggles off his head as the path got a bit too bright for them to be useful. Conner's own blue eyes widened in surprise at the sheer drop the walls took save for the spiral staircase that went from the opening to the wide floor. There was something deeper there too; something glowing with a console arching around its lip.

"Wow is right," Wally huffed with a laugh. "This place is huge…Better call…" He trailed off, finger on his ear. "No signal."

"Use the telepathy," Robin suggested gently. Wally smiled nervously before staring up the vaulted ceiling as if the others would just fall through if he summoned them through thought.

"_Miss Martian_," he called in his stupid sultry voice. Robin clenched a fist and nearly glared at him. Conner placed a hand on Robin's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "_We found something here!_"

"We saw from Conner," she replied. "We're on our way."

"_Wait until you see this_," Wally laughed. "_And Rob's already done his thing and disapp-Superboy! Get back here!_"

"_We're coming_," Kaldur stated and Wally could feel them begin to rush to them.

He sighed and sped after the two idiots he had for friends. Robin had the stupid tendency of disappearing into the shadows while Conner…was Conner. There wasn't much stopping them when they set their minds to something. Robin would strip you of logic and moves while Conner would glare at you and look like impending doom if he didn't just beat you into a wall. Really, there wasn't much stopping them once their minds were made up.

He found Robin at the console, Conner hovering over him like a protector. Wally blinked. He'd seen that hover before. Batman did it all the time when Robin was doing something important and Batman was taking care of the bad guys. Though, whenever he saw it, he and Flash were taking care of the bad guys while Batman walked Robin through something, beating anyone who managed to get past the two speedsters to a bloody pulp.

When had Conner started hovering like that?

"Guys? I think we should stay away from the weird computers," the jokester called. "Remember the last time we screwed with weird computers?"

"Yeah," Robin muttered. "We got a great teammate from it remember?"

Wally gave a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his neck with the same unease. Conner sent him a devilish smile.

"You two have to stop hanging out with each other," Wally sighed with a shake of his head.

"My goodness, the League has brought up protégé's that even I am a bit impressed by," a deep voice called from above their heads. Their heads shot up to find a finely dressed man with black hair slicked back with something shinny. His shoulders were broader than Conner's and he was a bit shorter than Superman. Either way, he smiled down at them like he was a god and waited for them to react.

"You must be Savage," Robin hissed, hand shooting to his utility belt. Conner fell into a fighting stance and Wally suddenly wanted to race to the others to tell them to hurry their butts up before coming back to help Conner and Robin. Though…Savage wasn't to be taken lightly so he stayed for his friends' sakes. Maybe this was the type of person someone shouldn't screw with on their own; hence why Batman sent in the non-stealthy stealth team.

Right.

Glad that was cleared up.

"You are correct, young bird," Savage replied. "The Batman has been a very good opponent to me. I hope he's been as good a teacher."

A metal disk shot from Robin's hand towards Savage's head. He caught it, gazed at it for moment, and then held it away from himself and dropped it before it exploded. The man smiled at the wide-eyed boys below.

"He…caught it," Robin murmured softly so only he and Conner could hear him. Wally's hearing had shut down as soon as he'd seen that event but it was understandable. There was a crash and high pitched yelp from the high door but it was quickly ignored by all within the whirring room.

Vandal Savage had decided to attack then, leaping over the balcony he'd stood on and charging the boys before him. Robin leapt backwards, flipping into the air as Wally dashed away towards the others to tell them to hurry personally – sometimes, telepathy just didn't go far enough.

Conner caught the man's fist and countered only to be brushed off like a doll. Savage laid into him for a little while then, fists flying and face split in a smirk, until Robin flew at him with a flying kick. Conner added his own punch to be on the safe side only to see it caught in Savage's meaty hand. There was a sick smile on the man's face as he shoved Conner away and tossed Robin towards the console before smacking Kaldur away and dodging arrows.

_What is this guy_, Conner thought as he bounced back to his feet, blue eyes glaring about the room for something he could use to slow the man down a few pegs.

They fell on Robin as if by nature, watching as he gripped the metal bar near the edge of the drop behind him, eyes narrowed as he glared back at the man. Conner knew he was watching Savage's movements as Kaldur and Wally danced about him, M'Gann and Artemis trying to get in a few hits here and there. He charged the bigger man suddenly, as if he hoped the surprise attack would do him some good, only to be smacked away again. He flew backwards with a grunt as his back hit the bar.

Conner's eyes widened as he tipped backward a bit too far and toppled over the bar.

"Got you!" Conner yelped as he felt his hand find purchase about Robin's small wrist. The little bird latched both hands onto the bigger boy's wrist quickly as they both slipped further over the edge into the glowing drop off.

"Superboy…" Robin grunted as Conner slipped again, his free hand snapping to the bars above his head. "Don't you dare…let go of that bar."

"Like I want to," Conner grumbled. He glanced over his shoulder to find the others still fighting Savage like they hadn't seen what was happening. His hand felt Robin slip and he flinched to get ready to catch him again causing the hand on the bar to slip a bit.

"Superboy…" Robin warned a bit weakly. He shook his head at his friend as if to beg him to not let go of his arm. Like Conner would even think of doing such a thing.

"Don't let go of my arm Robin," Conner hissed. "Don't you dare let go of that arm." Robin gave a nod and Conner looked back over his shoulder to the others. "_We have a problem here!_" he shouted at them. Wally and M'Gann were the first to look over at them, Savage's eyes following.

"No!" Savage roared, fear and worry seeping into his beady eyes as Wally raced to his friends. "Pull them up!"

Something happened then that would make him always wonder if there really was such a thing as fate or destiny; the ground buckled, the drop off suddenly a lot closer than it had been before. He let go of the bar to push Wally away from the edge as hard as he could, trying to ignore Robin's tightening grip on his wrist before his stomach went into his mouth as they plummeted into the bright glow below. He was blinded for a few seconds before everything went black.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

**Alright...****Let's see how this chapter goes.**

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><p>"Conner," Robin hissed as he shook his friend's massive shoulder. "<em>Con<em>ner. _Conner!_ Get up!"

"Huh?" Conner groaned as his blue eyes fluttered open. "Robin?"

"No, it's Bats," Robin replied sarcastically, slight relief flowing into his voice as he sat back on his heels with a sigh. He ran a gloved hand through his ebony hair and watched as Conner scrubbed a hand tiredly over his face as he sat up slowly.

"What happened?" Conner asked after a moment.

"We dropped into some sort of vortex," Robin muttered as he raked his brain as well to remember exactly what had happened. He really only remembered dropping and waking up on a random rooftop with a screaming headache and a very unconscious Conner holding onto his wrist with a strange gentleness that only a Super could have.

"Oh…" Conner mumbled. The boy glanced about. "This…isn't the warehouse…"

"No…it most certainly isn't," Robin snickered. Conner gave him a weird look as if to ask what Robin was thinking. "You sound drunk."

"Drunk?"

"Yeah," Robin chuckled with a nod.

"What's that?" Conner asked with an innocent look on his face as he rubbed his shoulders gingerly – how a Super could do anything gingerly was beyond the Boy Wonder.

"Let's just say you will probably be lucky to never feel more than a possible buzz from alcohol," Robin smiled. "You can thank Superman for that ability. I've never seen him drunk and he claims he just can't get drunk which means he's tried to." Robin had raised an intellectual finger and waggled his brows meaningfully and Conner couldn't help but laugh. His hand shot to his head after a moment.

"My head hurts," Conner muttered a bit awestruck.

"Yeah…Something tells me that you're going through what I did," Robin explained with a sympathetic gaze. "Plus, I've seen Batman make that face after a hard night of drinking thanks to a hangover…Another good reason to never drink but with our jobs…who knows what kind of vices we'll pick up?"

"Vices?"

"Simply put, bad habits," Robin explained with a shrug. "I can't say I know many of us without one either."

Conner frowned. "Really? Why do we have them?"

"For us, as for a lot of other people, a vice can be a coping mechanism. You have an especially rough day; you drink a few glasses of scotch or gamble away a few million bucks if you have the money to do so."

"What does Batman do?"

"Really bad days, he drinks and has flashbacks about his childhood. Normal days?" Robin shrugged again. "He trains like he always does." There was another shrug and a wary gaze.

"How about Superman?"

"He gets depressed with himself," Robin muttered. Conner gave him a soft glare. "What? You don't want to see him on a bad day."

"He doesn't want to see me on a good day," Conner muttered back.

"Don't even start with that," Robin growled. "Let's focus on the situation alright?"

"Fine."

"Fine…Good to know we all agree on something."

They sat on the rooftop for a few moments in complete silence as Conner rubbed his temple and Robin glared at the scenery. He found only tall buildings that all managed to look dirty and dank with darkness. Listening, he heard sounds he'd always heard in Gotham; screams, rummaging, crashes, bangs, hissing of curses.

"Where are we?" Conner asked softly as if to apologize for bringing up Superman in a situation that didn't need his own issues on top of it.

"To tell the truth," Robin sighed in resignation. "I haven't the faintest idea."

"So we're lost."

"It would seem so but I haven't looked at this building quite yet so just hang on a second," Robin huffed with a bit of laughter in his tone. It was like he believed it was impossible to get lost. He glanced over the building edge for a little bit until he returned to Conner's side with a slight frown on his face.

"What is it?" Conner asked.

"I think we're in Blüdhaven," Robin murmured. Conner cocked his head in slight confusion. "Think Gotham only a few times worse." Conner frowned at the idea. He didn't really like the idea of a place worse than Gotham – it just seemed impossible.

"How many times worse?"

"I don't even want to think about it."

"That bad huh?" Conner murmured as he pulled himself to his feet with a groan. "Yeah…never drinking alcohol even if I _am_ immune to it."

"Good choice," Robin sighed. "I fight mean drunks all the time. It's not all that much fun to tell the truth." At the confused look from Conner he added, "Read up on it." Conner nodded as he looked over the building edge.

Sure enough, the building sported the name Blüdhaven on it in glowing red lights. It also sported the words 'general hospital' in the same gleaming red. He frowned.

"We're on the roof of the general hospital," he mused. Robin came up on his left and followed his gaze to the sign, the red casting eerie shadows on both of their faces. Robin was frowning but didn't seem to want to speak his mind. Conner watched a few of the letters flicker out and back on a few times as people milled around in the streets.

"The hospital didn't have all the lights working last time I saw it," Robin muttered a bit darkly. "Hell, that wing wasn't there either; not ever." Conner followed his finger to find a third of the building that did look a little newer compared to some of it. The lights in the windows were all on and as he closed his eyes, he picked up the sound of giggling children coming from the walls.

"Children's wing," Conner stated.

Robin let out a soft snort. "That wasn't there the last time Batman and I were in Blüdhaven."

"It does look a bit new."

"Not new enough to be fresh construction," Robin observed. "So a few decades or so old. Looks good for Blüdhaven standards."

Conner could tell from the other buildings about them. Some had crumbling edifices and what he could almost smell the mildew from there. Then again, there were a lot of old buildings about them, each with some sort of damage to some part of them.

"Hey…could you listen into the building?" Robin asked. "Just this one; we had to have landed here for a reason."

"Sure," Conner shrugged.

It wasn't like he hadn't already started doing that so why not broaden the scope? His eyes slipped closed again and he focused in on the building under their feet. He heard the usual shuffling of nurses and doctors. A few patients were speaking to each other – friendly banter between people stuck together until one left for something – their conversation not interrupted by the chirping machines they were hooked up to.

Then, something caught his attention.

"Con?" Robin asked as his friend's eyes flashed open, worry drowning in surprise. "What'd you hear Con?"

"You know those machines that tell how a person's heart's beating?" Conner asked. Robin nodded; a bit worried at the question that would most likely follow the action. "What happens when it just keeps beeping?"

Robin frowned in slight confusion. "You mean when it just makes the continuous bleep that never seems to end?" he asked. Conner nodded. "It's called flat lining…it's when the heart stops beating. With Flash, he's made his heart beat so fast it can't keep up but for normal people…it's not a good sign."

Conner nodded in understanding, not daring to question further. Instead, he listened in closer to the noise about the person he'd heard flat line. The doctors started giving commands in louder voices, metal began to clink around as people rushed about in a frenzy organized chaos, and above them he could hear gasps and softened sobs.

"There are a lot of people around them," he said. "A lot of metal objects too."

"Sounds like a surgery going south," Robin explained. "It's not uncommon for someone to go into surgery and not come out of it better. Hell, some people get major complications from minor operations and end up needing major surgery to fix it…sometimes you even find more than you thought was there." He gave a soft shrug but Conner had a feeling he'd been on the receiving end of these realizations before.

"Do surgery rooms have something above them where people can sit?"

"Yeah," Robin nodded. "Observation Rooms. Usually other doctors watch…sometimes family members are allowed to come in there and watch but that's really rare. You need a lot of connections to be able to do that."

"Connections?"

"Like let's say someone was rushed to the hospital from a crime scene," Robin explained easily enough. "They're a possible witness so a cop will be placed at the hospital to be able to tell others when the person's out of surgery. Though, usually it is a bit rude to do that so usually the cops just ask the hospital to call them and keep them apprised. If it's someone of importance – like someone diplomatic or with an assassination threat on their heads – they post guards."

"Okay…These must be connected family members," Conner murmured as his ears picked up someone yell 'Clear' followed by the sound of a body seeming to leap from the table and fall back onto it. "What does it mean when someone yells 'clear' in these situations?"

"Uh…a defibrillator…it shocks the heart back into action sometimes…but you don't want to be near the person when it goes through them."

"Right. Why?"

"Electricity can travel through a body just as well as an outlet."

"Oh…alright." He listened for a moment. "They got their heart pumping again."

Robin nodded and sighed for a little bit. It always seemed to bother him whenever he had to deal with the whole idea of a hospital. He didn't like being near them, he didn't like being in them. He'd seen death a few times through Bruce, through victims of the men they fought, and through his own eyes. He hated hospitals.

"Hey…there's an argument going on in the lobby," Conner stated.

"Huh?"

"Something about how someone shouldn't be out of bed let alone getting discharged," Conner muttered with a shrug. Of course he didn't understand. No x-ray vision and no ability to really tell what was wrong with the person being yelled at.

"Batman and I do that a lot," Robin murmured musingly. It was unnoticed by him but it certainly went noticed by Conner. The clone felt his gut twist at the idea that his friend – his mortal friend – would willingly walk out of a care facility when they weren't fully healed up. He could see him doing it though.

"You're doing this _against _medical _advice_!" a woman screeched from below. Robin glanced over the building to watch a woman with a lithe build and steely eyes yelling at a man with dark hair and his left arm in a sling.

"Yes Cara," the man called back a bit sarcastically as if to tell the woman she was overreacting. "I've discharged myself with full understanding of what I was doing so will you relax?"

"No I will not relax!" the woman yelled back. "Should I shoot you again just to show you how stupid you're being?" Her hand lifted to her hip, revealing a gun. Conner tensed, his hands gripping the stone near to the point where it would break and crumble.

"Cara," the guy said. "You're a detective. You really going to shoot your partner?"

"If my partner weren't such a fucking idiot, I wouldn't even be tempted!" she yelled. The guy chortled and shook his head.

"Look, I'll take a few days off from work alright?" he replied amiably. "I won't even call in to check on you or anyone else in the force okay?"

"I'd prefer you stay in the hospital!"

"And I want to sleep in my own damned bed Cara. I don't want bodyguards either," he snarled at her, giving a warning jab to the shoulder as he spoke. "Don't even tell the Captain that I've discharged myself either! He'll order me to go into witness protection or some stupid shit like that so don't tell him!"

"I'll tell whoever I want Richard! You're injured damn it! You should be in the hospital!"

"I hate hospitals," the man grumbled. "I'm not staying in a hospital."

"Will you knock it off? This stupid phobia of yours is ridiculous; especially considering you seem to enjoy getting yourself injured all the time!"

"Cara!" the man yelled, his voice finally rising above her hysterical yelling. She blinked at him in surprise and slight fear, like she'd only seen him mad once before and it had been an experience she never wanted to repeat. "Shut up."

He walked off leaving his partner behind as she blinked, shook her head, and muttered a few curses before going off on her way. Conner released the brick under his hands as Robin watched the exchange in a bit of a bored manner. He'd seen cops do that dance a lot. A partner making decisions without the other's approval was something he'd seen often in Gotham. Jim Gordon had made a living through it in some ways in his first year in Gotham.

So had his first partner.

"Should I be calling him a jerk?" Conner asked.

Robin shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he has a good reason to be like that. You have to remember that everyone sees things differently from others."

He sighed softly and looked about the city again. It was darker than Gotham he realized as Robin watched the man stalk down the street. The younger boy knew that walk; Bruce did it every so often when he was mulling over something. Conner glanced back to his friend and then followed his gaze towards the man from earlier.

"You want to follow him?" Conner asked. Robin jumped uncharacteristically and blushed a bit.

"Yeah…a bit," Robin admitted softly.

"Okay…why not? It's not like we don't have anything else to go on right?"

"Shut up," Robin chuckled. "Let's go."

"Alright," Conner sighed before Robin launched himself to another building. He leapt after his friend, amazed at how much slower he was in comparison with the smaller boy who seemed to be able to fly as he raced across the rooftops. It was a little odd to know there was something he was bad at when it came to his job.

"Jeeze," Conner huffed when they skidded to a stop. "You're fast at this stuff."

"Thanks," Robin smirked proudly. "He went in there," he pointed out as he gave a soft huff. Conner glanced at the building and listened carefully as the man, Richard, thumped up the creaking stairs. He listened as a door was unlocked, the key scraping against the innards of the lock. Conner pointed to the windows that would belong to the door and Robin nodded before flying to the fire escape outside of them. Conner landed softly next to him, earning a grin from his little friend. The lights flicked on, the boys shrinking form them…

"Hey Dick," a deep voice rumbled. "Long time no see. Blüdhaven seems to be treating you well by the looks of that arm."

The room stayed silent for a moment, the boys watching as Richard stared towards his kitchen counter at a broad shouldered, ebony haired person with surprise, anger, and exhaustion. He kicked the door closed, turned the latches, and then turned to look at his visitor.

"I would ask how the hell you got in here but I can see the window to the fire escape is open and we both know how high you can jump if you _don't_ try to fly."

"It really is good to see you again," the visitor murmured. "Seriously, it is but you could at least pretend you're glad to see an old friend."

"Not when aforementioned old friend breaks into my apartment; the apartment that I know for a fact only four people should know about," Dick growled in a feral manner. "You can get out of my home now." He turned to leave, his visitor turning a bit on the stool so that half his face was finally visible.

_That's…Clark_, Conner thought as Robin's hand strayed up to his sleeve, gripping it tightly as he too recognized the face that was too young to be Clark's face – even their Clark wasn't that adolescent looking. This guy looked almost fresh out of his teens. At best, Clark looked nearly thirty if not twenty-five.

"That hurts," the visitor murmured. "I'm not even allowed to try to catch you up on things?"

"No Conner, you're not," Dick stated bluntly. "In case you forgot, I grew out of the Robin tights a long damned time ago and don't really plan on revisiting old wounds thanks."

The older Conner frowned. "You know, you're going to have to talk to the rest of us sooner or later right? Wally's going to give you so much shit for just disappearing on us the way you did."

"Oh? Not Roy? I could have sworn he'd have been jealous of me for actually breaking free; unlike him," Dick smirked. "FYI, if he would stop biting off more than he can chew, he would have been able to handle some of the crap he got into."

"Roy's not jealous of you Dick, he's worried about you," the older Conner chided. "All of us are. You may as well be a liaison to the League; not a cop in Gotham's evil twin city!"

Dick glared at his friend. "Last time I checked no one really gave a damn," he muttered. "No one cares what I do anymore except you guys and I don't talk to you anymore remember? I have a life here and I like it."

"You have a life here? Really? This isn't a life Dick. This is you doing what you were trained to do since you were nine; only here, you have stricter rules you have to adhere to and less of a budget to do it on."

Conner glanced to Robin who'd edged back into his broad chest, his thin frame shaking a bit. He wrapped a strong arms around Robin and pressed him closer to himself. _Why is he so scared_, Conner wondered. _I notice we're watching me yelling at someone I apparently know very well but that shouldn't be much of a surprise. I kinda yell at everyone._

Dick glanced at the floor for a moment and then towards his bedroom before his lips drew themselves into a thin line and his blue eyes glowed with a determination. He looked at the elder Conner with those eyes and the boys could have sworn they saw him flinch. Dick pulled the sling off his shoulders, his left arm carefully guided to his side. The sling dropped to the floor.

"Leave," Dick stated, his voice cool, calm, threatening. "I'm supposed to be resting up from this…Leave."

"…No."

"Why not? I'm done talking to you so you may as leave." Dick sent him a sinisterly kind smile before stiffly pulling his shirt off to reveal the bandages wrapping around his pectorals and his left shoulder. Conner felt Robin's hands grip his arm tightly as the smaller boy shrank further into his chest.

Conner knew he was holding him a little tighter too but he had a good reason.

Dick's body was riddled with faded scars. He could tell what a few were, he'd seen them before because Batman occasionally got himself stitched up at the cave if it were necessary. Bullet holes, knife wounds, burns, claw marks, bites, and others wound about his body like intricate tattoos. Hardly an inch of his skin didn't have some sort of faded – obviously well cared for – injury. Some of them even wove into one another like snakes or like someone had tried to wipe one away with another.

There was one scar however that caused the most of his horrified amazement though.

It sat over his naval and under his sternum, little branches spreading out from it almost like a star of some sort. It was faded more than most of the others, a few just a bit lighter than it but that didn't matter.

Conner had seen that scar when it was still an angry red.

_"I want to see it Robin," Roy had said on one of his visits. M'Gann was cooking while Wally and Artemis sat before the television, Kaldur between them, arguing about which kind of movie to watch for the sleepover party they were all having. Conner was off to the side, watching Roy and Robin talk to each other softly. He was also listening._

_"See what?" Robin asked as he laid down some cards onto the table. "I'm almost out of cards here Roy. You better step up your game."_

_"Don't. Play coy Rob," Roy muttered softly, his teeth gritting together. "I want to see what Poison Ivy did to you alright?"_

_Robin was silent for a moment, Conner glaring at the red headed archer as Robin thumbed over his cards._

_"Any fives?" Robin asked._

_Roy sighed and muttered, "Go fish."_

_A few hours later, they'd all eaten and were camping out in their 'assigned' rooms. Conner couldn't sleep though, the earlier conversation still ringing in his ears. It had been weeks since Ivy had nearly killed Robin and Conner had nearly killed her in return. He sat up, closed his eyes and listened to the others' breathing._

_"Damn Robin," Roy hissed softly. Conner ground his teeth together and sped to stand outside Roy's room. He peeked in through the slightly open door to find boy of the humans in pajamas, Robin holding up the black tank top for Roy to see the angry red of his injury._

_"Shut up," Robin muttered. "It's healed so shut up about it."_

_"Jeeze," Roy sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face as he sat back on his bed. He glanced at the injury again, his brown eyes filled with grief and disgust, before he tugged the shirt out of Robin's hand and over the scar. "Shit…Did he really damn near kill her?"_

_Robin sighed and nodded as he plopped onto the bed next to his old friend. He was still wearing those damned sunglasses as he spoke to his friend. He ran a hand through his raven black hair as he crossed his legs._

_"Yeah…he was understandably a bit pissed off," Robin murmured._

_"Rob…he's fucking dangerous," Roy muttered a bit darkly. "First he pretty much crushes your ribcage after you set him free, he has hardly any control, and he almost killed someone!"_

_"Lower your voice," Robin commanded. "Conner can't help that stuff either so cut him some slack. Besides, I know you're not going to claim everyone in the League hasn't damn near killed someone – or wants to kill someone. Batman has some of the best control I've seen but I know he wants to kill someone – lots of someones."_

_"Batman doesn't have powers."_

_"I've seen Superman when he's really angry Roy. He's damned near dropped someone from twenty stories up once…Note that it wasn't in the papers either."_

_"Superman's got better control than Conner."_

_"Conner should be learning from Superman."_

_"…I hate it when you're logical."_

_"Forgive me for learning how to be that way," Robin muttered sticking out his tongue before standing to leave. "I need to sleep. I have tests tomorrow."_

_Conner rushed back to his room then. He didn't sleep though; angry, crimson scars haunting his sleep every time he closed his eyes._

"I see that one didn't fade completely," the elder Conner muttered looking away from his friend as Dick tossed the shirt onto a chair lazily, turning towards his room to reveal more scars.

"Of course it hasn't Con," Dick murmured gently. "Ivy only stabbed me with a giant branch remember? Of course there's a scar from it. Now seriously, leave. I'm tired and in no mood for a talk about how I should check in more often."

The elder Conner pursed his lips, scrubbed a hand over his face, and sighed.

"Fine. I'll be back tomorrow though…with Wally," he threatened as he stepped towards the window. Conner shrank into the shadows, Robin curling closer to make sure no one would see them. "Though Dick, seriously, you need to call in more often than you do."

"Conner, I'm warning you," was the reply, Dick never turning to look at his friend.

The elder Conner sighed before leaping into the air from the window sill. He halted in midair and spun to stare back at his friend who didn't move. He let out another sigh before kicking off and invisible roof and shooting off into the sky, disappearing within seconds.

_I learn to fly? Whoa_, Conner thought, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth until his thoughts reminded him of that one of a kind scar.

"Shit," Robin hissed softly. "Shit…shit…"

"Hey!" a shout came from the window. Both boys jumped and met icy cool blue eyes framed by somewhat long black hair. Dick glared at them for a moment before snorting at himself and shook his head. "Get in here you two."

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><p><strong>Please review. Ignore the rant.<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**Alright...****Let's see how this chapter goes.**

**Such a Stream of Conciousness...Oh man this may be bad. **

* * *

><p>It was silent in the apartment while Dick changed into loose, black scrub pants. When he came out of his room, he found the two young heroes pretty much where he'd left them; on the couch, sitting near each other, Conner watching him with what looked like distrust. Not that Dick was going to blame him for it though. He'd expected it as soon as he'd seen Conner's future-self.<p>

He could tell his grammar was going to have problems very soon. Damn, he hated time travel.

"You two do realize I said you could raid the fridge," he chuckled.

Conner – god, it was tempting to call him Mini-Conner for some reason – glared at him for a second before turning his attention back to Robin. Dick followed his gaze and watched as his past-self shook a bit and avoided looking at him. He scoffed softly and moved smoothly towards the kitchenette and pulled out a tray of lasagna.

"You two have to eat," he murmured.

"Who are you?" Conner growled.

"Superboy!" Robin hissed, a hand on the boy's broad chest. "Don't!"

"I'm not going to tell who I am when I think my scars say everything – not to mention that conversation I just had with your future-self," Dick muttered as he grabbed some plates and some utensils. "Now, let's get something straight right now. I'm not really in the mood to babysit past-selves but you two need to get home and I just happen to have friends who deal with people who travel through time."

"How about we just find our own way back?" Robin asked. Dick sent him a glare as he popped the food into the microwave. The buttons yipped at him as he put in a time and the machine whirred as it did its job.

"Think about it," Dick muttered calmly. "You two are in the future. You don't know how far in said future you are, you don't know the things that have changed, and you certainly don't want to know too much because knowing you two something will happen and you'll blab everything to Wally and them and that'll change this time into something else and personally, I'm not having it. You're staying within my damned sights."

Conner shot across the room in a second and pinned the man against the fridge by his neck, blue eyes blazing. Robin yelped at him to stop but Conner held him back with his free hand. Dick continued to look at him impassively.

"Who are you?" Conner roared.

"Dick Grayson," Robin yelled. "He's Dick Grayson for the love of god now let him go Conner!"

"Yeah Conner," Dick snarled back, his face showing no emotion. "You go through all the trouble of saving my ass back then and now you're gonna strangle me? That's nice to fucking know."

Something weird happened then. In a heartbeat – Conner swore that was all it was – Dick brought a knee up in between them, kicked him away, and then proceeded to pin him against the counter with one arm while holding Robin by the collar of his uniform as a precaution. He released his hold a bit on Conner as he leaned to whisper in his ear.

"I can kick your ass without Kryptonite," he hissed. "You wanna know why? I have hardly anything to live for, I know you never want to hurt the weak, and I was fucking trained to kill before I learned to get over the death of a loved one. Don't fucking tempt me."

He shoved away from the clone, gently pushed Robin away and proceeded to put dinner onto plates and serve them onto the counter. Conner watched him with grinding teeth and huffed breaths as he moved about. Robin pulled at his arm and dragged him to sit on a stool provided, muttering at him to shut up and eat. Dick, stabbed at his food in irritated silence, watching them through his peripherals.

Something curled in Conner's gut that made him feel he could trust this person, even though he'd already made it apparent that he was nowhere near being the friendliest person he could know. Besides, something about how he'd treated Robin seemed to have struck a chord with Conner; neither one of them would hurt him so this guy couldn't be all that bad. Only really shitty people would harm Robin in Conner's opinion.

The phone began yelling about the time Conner stuck his last bite into his mouth. Dick was washing his plate as well as Robin's plate when it started going off. Of course, he looked about ready to kill whoever dared to call him but he answered politely as one could after drying his hands. His eyes glowed with a fire though when he recognized the voice on the other end.

"Fuckin' typical," he hissed into the phone that he held in his left hand as he tossed the towel as hard as he could with his right. "You only give a shit when I'm hurt…Well I'm obviously fine thanks for asking…Just a second," he muttered, his harsh tone getting softer as he went on. He pulled the phone from his ear and gave the two boys a look before moving towards his room to talk to whoever it was on the phone.

"So…we're in Dick Grayson's new home in Blüdhaven?" Conner asked softly. Robin nodded with a slight shrug. "So what do we do now that he wants us to stay in sight?"

"We try to not piss him off first off," Robin murmured softly. "Did you forget that he pinned you already? Something tells me he can do a hell of a lot worse."

"Right," Conner murmured. "We should be patient and see when we can get past him?"

"Maybe…I don't know, something feels wrong about this situation. I can't put my finger on it though."

"Thank you Alfred," Dick stated as he reentered the room with a sigh. The phone beeped at him as he hung up, hissing when he shifted his shoulder. He glanced at the two boys. "I guess I should find you two some clothes huh?"

"I'm sure we'll be able to handle just having uniforms thanks," Robin said quickly, spinning on the stool to face the blue eyed man.

"Nonsense; you're getting clothes," Dick muttered as the phone jingled again. "Hello? Amy…I thought you were undercover…Hang on a second." He looked at the boys again and they quickly waved him off. "Amy…Yes I have company…Tim…you know him…My foster brother Ames…Yes…the third one of that fucking name. Thanks! I really needed to remember that part of my life!"

The door clicked shut with what the boys couldn't help but notice was amazing self-control. Conner however did not miss how both of them gave him a questioning look at Dick's words. Conner couldn't help but realize that this Amy person seemed to know something she probably shouldn't about this person and he suddenly wanted to know about it.

"No! I was on Duty Amy! I got shot in uniform alright!" Dick was hissing.

"Well shit Dick I'm sorry," a female voice hissed back through the phone. "Damn…so you're okay right? Nothing permanent?"

"Nope…Just a shoulder wound…I'll be out of commission for a little while…"

"Bullshit," Amy chuckled back. "You'll be fine…knowing you, you'll be alright."

"Well thanks Amy…I appreciate it," Dick murmured back. "Look…Could you do me a favor?"

"What is it this time?"

"Look up a name for me will you? A William Mallory."

"That name's in Gotham, not Blüdhaven. Why should I look him up anyway? Even you know he's reformed to the point of nausea."

"None of them reform completely Amy. None of them," Dick said. He let out a sigh then. "Besides Rohrbach, you know how my lifestyle gets me into trouble. Just look him up alright?"

"I'll see what I can do. I am undercover after all."

"Hey, a cop just got shot. I notice it's Blüdhaven but even the crooks here are wary when that shit happens in their back yards."

There was a soft laugh. "Alright. I'll see what I can find! See you!"

"Bye Amy," Dick said, his tone softer and with a smile.

"Con," Robin hissed. "Stop listening in on his conversation."

"I can't be the only one here that's curious about what he said," Conner replied as he listened to Dick sigh and hiss in pain as he sat on the bed. He sounded tired.

"Conner," Robin sighed as he slipped off the stool and wandered over towards the couch. "We shouldn't get into his personal life."

"Shouldn't we try to make sure about his intentions though?" Conner asked. "He seems to know a lot about us, he can fight – admitted to being trained – and he's asked an undercover cop to look someone up already after being shot."

Robin gave him a dark look. "He also admitted to being able to fight you without help. Maybe, we should stay on his good side while I try to find a way out of this."

"How long will that take?"

"Not long," Dick muttered from the doorway as held out some clothes. "These should all fit Robin. You on the other hand will have to put up with wearing a hoodie; not that I'm all that sure that I even have one that'll fit you."

The clothes dropped to the couch and Dick wandered away again to search for something that might fit Conner's rather broad frame. Robin stared at the clothes a bit apprehensively. He didn't see any sunglasses on the pile so he began wondering if he really should bother. Besides, what if they just jumped back to their own time spontaneously and he didn't have his uniform? Bruce would kill him and he wasn't even sure whether or not Conner had begun to realize what Dick had been saying as much as he had.

The phone rang again.

"What now?" Dick growled as he picked it up and glared at the number. "Fuck….Hey Barbara." He held the phone away from his ear as a very high pitch screech shot out from it at him. Robin tried to not wince. He knew that voice, even if it was older than he remembered. "Thank you. Now I can't hear any more out of that ear…Shit, you and Alfred are horrible you know that?"

Robin poked the clothes with a questioning finger as if they would grow legs and arms and teeth and attack him if he got too close. As Dick continued to yell and argue with his caller, he dug out a rather ratty old sweatshirt that he tossed to Conner without a second glance. Conner slipped it on, thinking that it was gladly cleaner than his combat boots.

"You broke up with me remember?" Dick was muttering when he walked through the apartment again and jerked a thumb towards his room as he looked towards Robin. He lifted the phone from his ear and placed it against his shoulder. "Seriously? Change in there…" The phone was back to his ear in seconds. "Barbara…no, I am not going to visit for a few more months…My usual partner's undercover for fuck's sake!"

Robin glanced towards Conner as he picked up the clothes a bit reluctantly and dragged his feet towards the bedroom as Dick dove into what looked like a private office. The door shut and Robin gave Conner a signal before disappearing into the bedroom. Within seconds, Conner was carefully riffling through Dick's mail and bookcases.

He didn't find much; Dick seemed to be a stand up kind of guy.

He paid his bills, his bank account wasn't bitching at him, and he had a couple of postcards from around the world from a few names Conner recognized. Wally and Artemis had wished he'd been present somewhere in Europe while Megan – wasn't really all that hard to find another name from that one – and Zatanna wished he'd been in Japan with them.

There were a few other names – Tim, Barbara, and Alfred Pennyworth – sending him letters too but those were old and obviously read over and over, the envelopes used as storage places. The books were all classics and books on countries and whatnot. There were a few signs also that he'd been interested in battle techniques and weapons but he was a cop so it made sense he looked those up from time to time.

He backed up a bit to look over the pictures surrounding the shelves and walls. There were plenty of pictures with several other people in them, most with a certain boy within them. The pictures could take him through the boy's life from maybe four up to College graduation. There were a couple of differences though; as soon as he was maybe ten, the people about him changed dramatically. It went from possible family members and strange circus members to a butler, an African American man with kind eyes, and a fiery eyed red headed girl.

Conner cocked his head in confusion at that realization. The person's family had changed at some point. Why? There had to be a reason for that to happen right?

Robin slipped out of the bedroom in the civilian clothes, looking almost like he usually did in jeans and a tee shirt save for the fact that hoodie was a bit big on him. He rolled up the sleeves as he waltzed over to Conner's side.

"What'd you find?" he asked.

"This kid," Conner pointed as he spoke, "had a change in families. Look, I know that butler – he works for Wayne. There's Lois Lane there too."

Robin nodded slowly as he gazed over the pictures and then glanced towards the far wall to find a double picture frame.

"There's the change," Robin said as he pointed, his voice clogging. "On the left is the original. On the right the new one."

"Bruce Wayne with Dick Grayson and his butler," Conner murmured. "So…the Grayson's were circus folk?"

"Yeah…Trapeze Artists. They could do stunts without a net…as long as the equipment was well taken care of."

"Was it?" Conner asked carefully.

"It was until the day they died…" Dick said from the doorway, blue eyes watching the boys carefully. His voice was clogged the same way Robin's had been and Conner instantly decided to know that it would be best to not say anything. "You already know about Zucco though so I won't go into my shitty story."

He pushed off the doorjamb and wandered over to them, waving the phone back and forth, tapping his good shoulder with it gently as he thought over something. He glanced at the boys.

"I'll tell you what," he said calmly. "If my memory serves, I think I'll be able to get some information on how to get you two home but you're going to have to be patient. I'm only a detective after all. I only have so many contacts."

Conner glared but Robin placed a hand on his arm gently. He couldn't help feeling like Robin was backing away from what he'd said earlier.

"Fine," Robin muttered. "But you have to make sure to not tell anyone we're here."

"Hypothetical questions only unless necessary," Dick confirmed easily with a smile – one that nagged at Conner's thoughts for a moment before he placed why it looked familiar; it was Robin's smile, his kind one.

"Fine," Robin said.

"Fine," Dick replied.

"Whatever," Conner growled.

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><p><strong>Please review.<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

**Alright...****Let's see how this chapter goes.**

**Such a Stream of Conciousness...Oh man this may be bad. **

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><p>It took maybe two days for Dick to be sure the boys weren't going to do anything too amazingly stupid if he left the apartment. Robin was keeping Conner's head cool despite his own understanding of the situation. Dick was still a little surprised at how calm he'd been during all this crap. It wasn't every day one fell through time and landed themselves in their future living quarters after their future-self has just been released from the hospital against medical advice.<p>

He tried to not snort at the flood of memories that swarmed over him. He couldn't say he enjoyed the déjà vu being played out right in front of him but he knew he was glad that he at least had a good enough memory to know exactly what went on with this bullshit.

Speaking of bullshit, there was no way in hell he'd manage to miss the chance to talk to someone he knew was going to show up sooner or later. He'd known his version of Conner hadn't been joking that he'd send Wally if he got the chance so he'd taken a bit of initiative and called Conner to Blüdhaven himself. He was standing on the roof of his apartment building, watching the city lights turn on and off for the hell of it as he waited, the sling making his shoulder itch. He knew very well that he was only wearing it to keep Conner from glaring at him but he didn't really give a damn.

"Hey," Conner called, a smile coloring his voice, from behind. Dick turned slowly, making sure to show that he was wearing his sling rather than just letting his arm swing freely. Conner gave him an appreciative nod before pointing at the roof. "Let me guess, you called because your promise to yourself."

"You're a bit of a shit head you know that?" Dick asked as he strode towards the bigger man – it was tempting to call him boy for some reason.

"Not completely my fault," Conner laughed kindly. "Seriously, my father was a bit of a shit head to me. I sort of grew up around shit heads too by the way."

"Oh so I'm a shit head too?" Dick asked.

"You still are…not calling, not writing, getting yourself a job that may as well be the one you left; I can go on if you want me to."

"Don't," Dick sighed holding up his good hand. "I'm really not in the mood."

Conner snorted at him and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Do you want me to actually do something about this or are you just going to jerk me around again?"

"When have I jerked you around lately?"

Conner glared at him. "You've been shot recently and you have newer scars. Don't tell me that you're really retired; it's a load and we both know it. The others may not but you and I do. Hell, Clark knows which means Babs knows, the new Robin knows, and Bats knows!"

"What Bats knows doesn't' really concern me anymore Con," Dick replied. "Can we get back on topic here?" Conner nodded reluctantly at him. "Savage or Warp; I need their notes or equipment."

Conner chuckled and shook his head.

"You're forgetting that you're a freakin' civilian right? Just because you were a member of the League doesn't mean you're going to get those privileges anymore. I was serious when I mentioned becoming a liaison to the League buddy. At least then you'd have some privileges."

"I have our past-selves in my apartment Conner; you know that!" Dick bellowed. "I have to get them out of this time frame before something happens."

"If memory serves, something will happen and there's shit all you and I can do to stop it," Conner shrugged. "Hell, we'll be lucky if you and I can get Bats to sign off on this."

"Can't you do this without him knowing?"

"Batman is the leader of the League Dick. Superman may be number one in strength and whatever but he still has to answer to a mortal man who doesn't really get along with him. You can't have forgotten that in all this time."

Dick sighed. He didn't want his foster father involved in this. He was just going to get irritated at them both and start to look for an alternative way to get the past-selves back home. Though, if he knew what event Conner was speaking of, he couldn't help but agree with the fact that what was going to happen would happen and there wasn't much they could do on it. All they could do was make sure the damage was minimal.

"How long did it take for us to show back up again?" Dick asked.

"A week," Conner answered gently. "Though, I only remember five days being stuck with you and your attitude; you need to work on that buddy."

"It's nice to know you care so fucking much Conner…You know as well as I do, that they can't stay here in this time frame. There are too many chances they'll learn something they shouldn't take back with them."

"There's not much we can do with what's going on Dick," Conner shrugged. "If they're going to stay four to five days, they're staying that long. All we can do is make sure they don't stay longer than that."

Dick frowned at his old friend for a moment before turning away with a frustrated growl. He scratched his head with his good hand in irritation as he looked out onto his city, mildly wondering if the thoughts that plagued him now were what plagued Bruce for all those years. Dismal thoughts that should never have entered his life at the age they did bubbled to the surface every time he looked over a city from a roof top or a plane.

_It looks peaceful…is it though? Is it really all that quiet or is there something happening in the alleys below me; something sick and horrid? Is a mother with her children? Is a father being loving to his children? Are the criminals too scared to leave their little hideouts anymore? Is everything valuable still where it belongs? Is there a nut running around my city?_

"You look like Batman," Conner muttered a bit bitterly as he joked. Dick however, never one to take a joke, flung a loose bit of stone at his head. He ducked quickly enough and the stone arched in the air until it slammed into the side of the Roof access door's brick shed. "It was a joke."

"You're your father's son alright," Dick sneered. "Always coming in with shit timing. When will you two realize no Bat-family member can take a joke?"

"Not my fault you're warped," Conner shrugged easily. "That's all Batman's fault and you know it Dick. Unlike me, you weren't born to become a hero."

"Fate and circumstance would tell you otherwise," Dick scoffed in annoyance. "I've been at it longer than you Con so don't tell me I'm not good enough in such a sly way."

"First off, you were at it longer than I have been until maybe about a year ago. In case you forgot, you left; retired as I remember it. Second off, it wasn't me who sucker punched his mentor for hiding things from him; I at least had some tact in just muttering under my breath to friends who had my back. Third, you call that sly? You've gotten rusty Dick."

You know I'm not rusty," Dick snarled. "Or is your memory failing you?"

Conner stared at him in amazement, his memory flashing to the incident when Dick had pinned him to the counter of his kitchenette a bit too easily for comfort. Dick could tell from the expression on his face he'd remembered what had happened only a few days ago for their past-selves; a combination of years and moments to them.

"I'm leaving before I do something stupid," Conner muttered softly before he turned away from his friend. He kicked off with hardly any sound before spinning a bit to face his friend once more. Dick tried to not think about how Superman-like Conner looked while he 'stood' in mid-air like a god of sorts.

"Thought you were leaving," he muttered softly.

"Thought I'd warn you the team's chasing someone and they've been moving towards this place so…you may have to deal with unexpected visits."

"Oh that's great; just great. Now I'm going to leave before I do something stupid," Dick growled, giving his friend a dismissive wave before striding back inside.

There was hardly anything else he could do now that he and Conner had gotten into one of their suddenly common spats. Those had started roughly about the time Dick had realized he was growing too old to be called the 'Boy' Wonder and was finding himself a bit more than irritated that he was being treated like an incompetent.

Then there was the whole Barbara being Batgirl and his never knowing while Batman had acted like he'd never known. It had been amazingly satisfying to sucker punch the man in the jaw on the rooftops of Gotham before setting out on his own to find his own way. Naturally, it didn't really help he'd gone to Superman for a bit of advice before leaving. HE should have known Conner would have found out from there since those two had gotten closer over the past decade or so.

He couldn't say that it was a complete bust though. He'd told him about an old Kryptonian legend called Nightwing and the name had sort of rung in his head for months afterwards. He never expected to build himself another moniker from it though. He blamed Bruce's training, how it was welded into his very core and he seemed unable to escape its oddly comforting embrace. There was stability in some of this even if it was insanity. He knew his own morals and he knew how to act on them.

Damn Blockbuster to hell and back; he didn't like that he'd been inactive when the female Tarantula killed him but he'd seen it as the only real way to stop the man. However, it still haunted him. He couldn't talk to Amygdala anymore since he'd gone nuts again since his old apartment had been blown up killing most of their neighbors. Hell, in some ways he missed his conversations with the pulp novel writer John Law – the original Tarantula.

He was still pissed Roland Desmond had managed to get out of the League's reaches after news had gotten out that he'd blamed Nightwing for killing his mother months back.

There had been plenty of other reasons for the League to get involved through that too. Torque, a corrupt cop, was feeding information; his head still 180 degrees in the wrong direction after Blockbuster decided he was too dangerous to have around.

Then there was Tad Ryerstad – NiteWing, former possible apprentice of his, and unbalanced sociopath to boot – who'd not only killed Torque, he'd decided to take out all his frustration and anger on anyone he deemed to be a criminal. Thanks to his shitty life, his perceptions were a little out of whack and if Dick had known how unstable he was before he'd tried to help him, he would have gotten him into Arkham or Belle Reeve sooner. Of course, he wasn't Bruce.

During all that, everyone in the Bat-family was still dealing with Jason Todd's death. He still had yet to meet Timothy "Tim" Drake in person before Bruce finally called saying he'd like him to meet him.

"Are those arguments going to become normal?" a soft voice questioned softly from below him. He glanced down to see his own blue eyes staring up at him.

"My Conner may know about who you are – will be, whatever – but your Conner might still be in the dark."

"That's complete crap and you and I know it," the younger him said. "Let's face it; that scar is one of a million she could have given me but I doubt it was the only one he saw."

"It's never going to be the only one he'll see or the only one you'll get," the elder said as he stepped down towards the boy version of himself. "Let's think of it this way; if you want him to know now, let him know. If you don't, adhere to Bruce's rules."

The boy looked at him with a concerned expression. "Answer my question."

"Yes. You'll understand when you get to my age though so don't ask any further right?"

"Whatever."

"Go to bed. I've got a couple calls to make and I don't really plan on leaving the apartment unless I have to. We'll see if I can get anything on getting you two home alright?"

"Fine, whatever you say."

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><p><strong>Please review.<strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**Alright...****Let's see how this chapter goes.**

**Sorry this took so long but Senior Year's kicking my butt.**

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><p>The docks were quiet that night and Con-El found himself shivering with anticipation. He'd always found himself this way when they were on a manhunt of sorts. He'd never thought that it would be possible that he and the team would be chasing Anthony 'Tony' Zucco though and he found his nerves thrumming with excitement; his hands wanting nothing more than to latch onto the man's collar and yank him into the air until he surrendered, all the while threatening to drop him and be done with it.<p>

The team was about as buzzed as he was; the new Robin restless and shifting about on his perch in such a way that only Con-El could tell he was doing it. Batman would have been proud if he'd been there; irritated but proud that it took super hearing to detect the shifting. Though, Con-El still remembered the good old days when Dick would sneak up on him out of boredom rather than stay put.

"_Stop shifting about Robin_," he hissed mentally, a bit surprised at how bitter he sounded.

Everyone else picked up on it; naturally.

"What crawled up your ass?" Roy thought a bit surprised at the clone.

Con-El shrugged, quickly deciding to ignore their emotions despite how easily they filled his head and body. As the years had passed, he'd found himself getting to understand why Dick had always had a dislike for the telepathic links between them all. There wasn't much privacy and the onslaught of other peoples' emotions and thoughts were a bit suffocating at times.

Robin – Tim – slipped from his original spot to another with a better view, his cape lifting into the wind like a kite as he crouched on the top of a crane. Con-El found himself slipping across the tops of metal ship containers with deathly quiet steps, moving towards the entrance of the docks with a determined expression. At some point, he'd learned to lock away bits of his thoughts from the others and he didn't mind the chance to practice the skill.

Especially not tonight; not when the past-selves would have snuck out of the apartment at least half an hour ago thinking they had left a sleeping Dick Grayson in his bedroom. He glanced at an available clock and found himself picking up his pace. Another ten minutes and the past-selves would slip into the docks, following rumor and police band radios they'd managed to overhear. He wanted to growl in irritation and laugh in amazement at his own personal stupidity.

Seriously, it wasn't everyday your past came to dance idiotically right in front of you and as cool as it seemed to be in speculation, Con-El knew for certain that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

M'Gann called him and he called back that he was going to make sure no one snuck up on them through the front entrance. It was all he had to do. He was trustworthy after all. No one expected him to do anything that would jeopardize his standing either; not when he'd worked so hard to get it in the first place. Though, there was still the fact that the original Super was brainwashable. There were no promises for Con-El in that department.

The entrance gate was dark and remained chained closed when he got there. He dropped to one knee, a fist on the cool metal as he propped the other hand on his other knee. He could count down the seconds. Three….Two….One….

He didn't even bother to smirk when he spotted the original Robin sticking a landing inside, a line in his hand. As he collected it, his own past-self landed with a softer than usual thud on Robin's left. He could hear Robin muttering that this was a bad idea and his he could already remember his past-self saying he was tired of being cooped up in that apartment and that Robin couldn't really argue with him on that point either.

"You two shouldn't be here," he said, his voice rumbling like thunder. He tried to not laugh when the two flinched and spun their heads about to find him.

Naturally, Robin spotted him first.

"Con," he hissed before pointing. Conner's blue eyes – _Where they always that light?_ – lifted until they met Con-El's own cobalt orbs. They widened for a moment before narrowing in understandable suspicion. He'd been stuck with Dick for the past four days. Con-El distinctly remembered wanting to strangle the raven haired superstar detective.

"As great as it is to notice my memory's still as good as ever, you two really shouldn't be here," he thundered gently. "Unless of course you want the team to know you're here which will make things far more complicated on our end than it needs to be."

"Our end?" Robin hissed, as if he feared one of the others had managed to get super hearing. "As far as I can see you're really the only one doing anything!"

Conner flushed a bright red and Con-El blinked in surprise at it. He'd forgotten how embarrassed and inanely proud he'd been when he'd heard those words. Of course, he did remember the bubble bursting comment he was going to say.

"I'm not doing shit," he shrugged nonchalantly. It wasn't really a lie either. He wasn't doing all that much on this. He was keeping the team out of the loop to be sure but compared to what he knew Dick was doing…He wasn't doing shit. "It's all Dick."

"Yeah right," Robin muttered as his cheeks brightened. Con-El felt the amazing urge to swat him upside the head. He wasn't a complete idiot, and his past-self wasn't as oblivious as the others seemed to think he was. He'd realized the smile Dick sported was familiar, that he spoke of League things with irritation and full understanding, and that he – Con-El – wasn't exactly the most normal friend to have for a normal cop.

Besides, there had to be something up with Richard Grayson if they were running into him so often; in their line of work it was a bit worrying when you ran into a person multiple times in your own damned timeframe. Meeting them in the future, finding they have League ties, and that they are fully aware of the situation was something else entirely.

"Trust me; he's pulling all the strings."

"Whatever," Robin growled. Con-El clamped his mouth shut to avoid giving something away as a precaution. He wasn't going to be the one to let something slip; especially not if he was competing with Dick who could give anyone a run for their money.

"_Superboy_," Wally called in his head. "_We've got movement_!"

He let out a long groan as he straightened. "_Give me a minute_," he called back. To the boys, he said, "Go back to Dick's."

"No," they chorused. Con-El's eye twitched. He'd forgotten about that.

"Great kids Superboy," a snarky voice hissed a few feet back. Con-El spun to find someone new on the shipping container roofs, hiding in the shadows. He could see their smirk though and it sent chills up his spine. "Now…why would uniformed kids go to 'Dick's'?"

"_Superboy? Who's with you?_" Kaldur asked in a panic.

"No one," Con-El growled before launching himself at the stranger, no longer caring about the shields in his head as he swung a meaty fist at the man. He was a bit surprised when he dodged with Batman accuracy, flipping away gracefully and landing with a snide laugh.

_By now, I'm on that container with Robin_, Con-El thought bitterly as he shot at the man faster than before, a hand shooting out to grab his shirt collar only to find a jacket and nothing much else. _Wait a second…Oh this'll be fun._

"_Superboy! Do you need assistance?_" Kaldur called. Con-El could see through Kaldur's eyes that they had spotted Zucco who was shifting about on the docks nervously.

"_Nah, I got this one; whoever he is_," he replied. "_You guys take care of that one. I'll be fine_."

Kaldur reluctantly left him to his own devices, ordering the others to surround and watch Zucco, their prey of the month. Meanwhile, Con-El was digging into the déjà vu feeling as deeply as he could to predict moves and counter as fast as possible. He mainly remembered what he'd done; a punch, a jab, right kick, a spin, a jump, a dodge, and a swat or two. He couldn't help but realize they were adaptations of Canary's fighting style and Batman's – naturally leaning a bit more towards Canary than Batman considering she'd taught him more often – and that it wasn't quite as graceful as this person's or as good as a Robin's.

It did the job though. He managed to get in a few solid hits without giving too much damage to the man who ducked and dodged, jabbed, and kicked out at him at intervals but in the end was trying to find a way around him. Well, he wasn't one to be ignored was he?

He pivoted on his heel, shooting a leg out to catch the man in the ribs only to feel air and see the person backflipping away. They landed near the edge of the container in a crouching position; fingertips on the metal near their toes where most of their weight was centered. The person glared at him, silvery hair hiding one of his beady brown eyes, for a moment before he shot at him with Dick-worthy speeds and Con-El had no choice but to move out of the way.

He wasn't quite the brick wall Superman was so if someone hit him hard enough, he could skid off the container fairly easily. Those speeds usually led to his feet not finding purchase too. He knew that for a fact. The person caught themselves with a strange ease and smirked at Con-El in a way that reminded him of Joker to a point.

"Man you're pretty good," the person laughed as they straightened out. Con-El glanced over to the boys who were watching intently but staying out of it; instinct and visual proof telling them to let the bigger Conner handle the problem human. Though, Con-El knew that even a mortal could damage a god.

Batman did it all the time. Dick did too.

"You're not as good as Dickie Grayson though," the person said with a sick smirk. Con-El's hands tightened into spheres and he almost launched himself at the person in a red rage…Until of course, his memory kicked in.

"Fuck off Mallory," a deep tenor voice snarled from above before suddenly, Mallory was flung across the containers, landing with a thud and bouncing a couple times as he spun about like a limp doll. In front of Con-El was the devil himself, clad in skin hugging black with a blue 'V' rising from his sternum and racing over his collar bone down to his middle finger and ring finger on both hands.

"'Bout time Nightwing," he muttered as Nightwing rose from his landing morphed into an upward kick smoothly, his left shoulder rolling as he sniffed at Con-El in acknowledgement.

"Meet my resident sniper fuck," Nightwing sighed, waving towards Mallory who was struggling to his feet. "One sec…Oi, Mallory! Dick Grayson wasn't Robin you dipshit! There was indisputable proof!"

Mallory growled like an animal before launching towards Nightwing with deadly speed, a knife in each hand suddenly. Con-El hopped out of their way as Nightwing backed up from the cuts, his domino masked face cool and calm; judging. When his feet were only another step away from the edge, he pulled out a pair of escrima sticks and blocked the knives with ease and shoved the man away with a slight grunt.

"Damn it all; this was supposed to be an easy night," Nightwing sighed disdainfully. "I was supposed to talk to the Martian and get some information but no….you and Zucco just had to show. Up. In. My. Fucking. City!"

Each word became more and more punctuated as he whacked away the knifes, sending them flying and then laying into the idiot with scary precision. Upper cut, straight jab, right pivot kick, roundhouse, and then a leg swipe to take out the already wobbling guy's feet. Con-El couldn't quiet keep himself from applauding softly with long claps.

"Bravo," he snickered as Mallory struggled once again to get up. Nightwing slammed a heavily booted foot onto his chest and pressed down, making it difficult for him to breathe. "You look like Bats you know that right?"

If looks could kill, Nightwing would have become a murderer a very long time ago. His glare did manage to get Con-El and the boys to shiver.

"Right down to the glare," Con-El pressed, whacking away the thrown escrima stick with ease and a laugh.

"You're worse than Superman," Nightwing shot back, his voice bubbling with strangled mirth.

"I do my best."

"Well I don't."

"Then stop resorting to your training."

"Fuck you too Supes." Despite his words, Nightwing was snickering a bit uncontrollably.

"I win this one," Con-El smirked.

"Yeah, yeah; shut up."

The boys were naturally staring at the two like they had three heads apiece. Nightwing, what with his better vantage point smirked and signaled at them.

"They look confused," Nightwing said as Mallory started to lash out at his powerful leg. He glanced down at the man with a sneer. "I'm in the middle of something here Mallory; stop moving so I can concentrate."

"Fuck you," Mallory snarled back, his voice gurgling thanks to the heavy boot on his chest. Con-El glanced back to the boys and gave a soft sigh before pressing a finger to his ear.

"Hey guys, guess who joined the party," he said. It didn't take telepathy to know who was going to be irritated enough to show it and who had enough patience or discipline not to.

"Aw man…" Wally groaned the loudest as Roy and Artemis managed to strangle their own moans of irritation. Kaldur and M'Gann were silent. Tim was too but Con-El could just see the confused look on his face. "What's he doing here?"

"Uh…his city KF," Con-El muttered. Mallory gave a gurgling noise again and Con-El recognized it a little too easily. "HEY! Don't choke him!"

"He shot a cop friend of mine," Nightwing snarled. "He deserves it."

"We don't need another Blockbuster incident Nightwing," Con-El growled, striding towards his friend to pull him off the man if he had to. Nightwing gave him a glare which made him falter a bit but he sent back an equal glare.

"Blockbuster deserved it," Nightwing replied, "and you fucking know that was the only way to stop him."

"You let him get shot!"

"Don't tell me you've got a perfect record Con-El," Nightwing muttered. "I know Poison Ivy can beg to differ."

"Hey, no bringing up things that far in the past."

"Then let my issues go; you all leave Batman alone. Hell, you all leave Superman alone with his stupidity…well, until you showed up that is. Then, we were all in his business."

Con-El flushed a bit at the memory of how he'd been the reason Batman had suddenly become the great father figure while Superman was anything but. Then again, B01 Robin's proneness to getting himself injured hadn't helped put Superman in any better light since he seemed unable to ever beat Batman to rescuing his protégé.

"He's gotten over it at least right?" Con-El shot back.

"Whoopity," Nightwing muttered, his heel digging into Mallory's chest.

"You're gonna strangle him," Conner yelled, his boots thudding over the metal. Con-El's arm shot up to stop him, his blue eyes glaring the past-self down.

"I have a point Nightwing," Con-El said, his ears picking up the telltale whoosh of someone coming their way. His past-self had heard it too, his body tensed. He could hear B01 Robin's heart speed up a bit as he watched, could tell his mind was racing through the information. A soft thud caught their attention and Nightwing's head shot up to find their new version of Robin on another container near them, his domino mask wide as he stared at the original Robin.

"Whoa," Tim breathed out.

"Whoa," B01 reiterated. "What the hell?"

"You replaced him already huh Bats?" Nightwing muttered as Mallory looked back to see who they were looking at. He looked about as confused as Con-El remembered himself feeling. "Hey Mallory lookie there; proof you and your brother were fucking wrong."

"Fuck you," Mallory spat. "Batman hasn't changed at all. You can always get new sidekicks."

Con-El tried to not see red but he knew he should be really glad that Roy wasn't present. He would have throttled the little bastard as well. Nightwing gave a grind of his boot in response.

"We graduated from sidekicks to partners," Nightwing explained with syrupy silk. "That's what Young Justice was for after all; for us to prove we could go independent if we fucking wanted to. Helped we managed to find a Superman clone and bring him to our side."

There was that knowing smirk again; the one Con-El knew he'd recognized in Dick Grayson. He tried to not sigh. So much for making sure they tried to keep that thing a secret.

Tim dropped to their container roof and strode over towards Con-El, domino mask still mostly white from the amazement at the boy nearby wearing a uniform close to his only with less red.

"Red Robin," Con-El stated casually. "Meet the original Robin." He nodded towards B01 as he spoke, blue eyes still fixed on Nightwing.

"Nice to meet you," Tim stated with a somewhat shy wave. He glanced over to Nightwing. "Uh, Nightwing; you mind letting the guy up? We can cuff him and he won't be able to do anything." He was pulling a set of cuffs from his utility belt as he spoke and Nightwing muttered a few choice words as he bent to spin the man onto his stomach, pinning his hands to his back as he did so, earning groans and other curses.

"Give them here kid," Nightwing sighed, a hand out for the cuffs, his knee keeping the man's hands pinned as well as his other hand. Tim handed them to him, their movements almost symbiotic somehow.

"I'm suddenly flashing to you giving Bats cuffs for someone," Con-El laughed.

"Shut up," Nightwing drawled as he cuffed the man. Tim was blushing a bit.

"What? It's true."

"Shut up Con-El," Nightwing repeated. He yanked Mallory up and then glanced at Tim with a bit of care that could only be shared by brothers in arms. He glanced back to the past-selves and couldn't help but see that they had seen it too.

"Uh…the others are catching Zucco," Tim mumbled towards Con-El. Nightwing gave a laugh and shook his head in irritation.

"Keep him away from me," Nightwing growled.

Tim snapped his mouth shut and Con-El glared at his old friend, fully understanding why he didn't want to be near the man. Then again, he shouldn't want to be near the rather shady person he had cuffed. The Mallory Brothers were very well known by the League – and a select few of the YJ section. They'd figured out who the original Dynamic Duo was years ago, tried to take them out, and were gassed by Joker.

They'd been thought insane after they'd been laughing hysterically for almost three months. William "Will" Mallory had come out of it first, claimed that Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were Batman and Robin. The thing was, being gasses by Joker tended to leave psychological damage in its wake so no one took him seriously. When his little brother, Andy Mallory, started spouting the same things, the cops looked into their family history.

It wasn't hard to find that Bruce Wayne had befriended the two because of the social circles. It was nice to know that their relationship had been completely legitimate – save for the brothers taking supplies from their "big brother" kind of trips for their "extracurricular activities" at night. Needless to say, the two sparkling socialites who didn't have dirty parents or any priors themselves, were given heads up and then given the choice to press slander charges or not.

Bruce hadn't wanted to lay slander charges but he had; adding in something to the effect of saying the brothers had mental scaring from their past – parents killed by cops; naturally they dislike Batman, cops, or anyone who has seemingly moved past family members' deaths. Besides, both Wayne and Grayson had lost family to criminals and were understandably pro-Clean Gotham.

"You shouldn't talk," Con-El muttered softly. "Not when you have him cuffed."

"Then you take him," Nightwing muttered as he shoved the dirty blonde haired man towards Con-El with a little too much force. The elder clone caught the man and gave him a dark, warning glare to stay silent. "At least his brother got the fuck over that bullshit," Nightwing was muttering softly as he ran a hand through his ebony hair.

Con-El glanced over towards the boys behind him, watching carefully as they shared confused, irritated, and worried looks to one another. He remembered how he'd felt as he'd watched himself talk to Nightwing and Tim, listening to the conversation without the understanding he had now. He could remember the growing urge to get home and away from the men before him.

He also remembered however, that he'd been fairly aware that they were their best shot home.

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><p><strong>Please review.<strong>


	21. Chapter 21

**Alright...****Let's see how this chapter goes.**

**Sorry this took so long but I'm graduating in a week, I had three projects to do (got 'em done though!), and have an AP test for tomorrow...Sorry about the wait.**

**FYI: I've done some wikipedia surfing for the next chapter - as well as this one - so yes...there are refferences to other comics or other story lines that have nothing to do with (or may have nothing to do with) Young Justice. Also...I'm ashamed to admit I'm behind on watching the episodes even though this story is so far off base it may not even matter. I got irritated checking to see if they'd updated and let it sit for a while. Naturally, half a dozen or so episodes came out and a second season has begun. Alright...I know what I'm doing this summer.**

**We'll see if I can get to it between Florida, Japan, and getting ready for college. (does anybody else hear the gang singing 'Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh my'? No? Alright...Tin Man! Help me find my brain!)**

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><p>It took maybe another two hours for the cops to show up, sirens screeching obnoxiously as they braked too hard and skidded to stops. Conner watched with Robin from the top of the shipping container as Kon-El wrangled Mallory into sitting on the concrete, Kaldur and the others arriving with a rather defeated looking elder man. Nightwing was with them, leaning against another container, his arms crossed over his broad chest.<p>

Both he and Robin stiffened when they saw the man Kaldur and the others brought in but Nightwing seemed to hate him a bit less than Robin did. He sneered sure but he didn't strangle a rumbling growl of a curse. No, he stayed silent and brooding. Conner had to wonder what this man did to him…and to Robin. As clear as it was becoming that the cop they had been spotted by may actually be his Robin all grown up and far more brooding than Conner felt was natural, Conner wasn't all that sure about what to think about why they seemed so different.

Maybe it was just the age difference that Conner was witnessing – even _his_ future-self seemed more…mature or tolerant of things around him. Maybe it was the fact that they'd jumped maybe fifteen years into the future. There was a bit of leeway in that essence. It _was_ the future and it was well known that sooner or later, Robin would no longer fit the title of '_Boy_ Wonder'. Even Red Arrow wasn't going to be able to be seen sooner or later since he'd no longer be a teenager.

Though…the fact that he was present in the catch made Conner also wonder whether or not he'd sorted through whatever his issues with the teams taken care of. Though it was a bit of a stretch in some considerations but then again…his own future-self seemed completely comfortable with his father – who also seemed to have gotten through his little issues too.

Superman was standing nearby, his blue eyes fixed on the kids – almost all of them actually in their adulthood – as they sat Zucco and Mallory next to each other. Kon-El was even standing within two feet of him comfortably, Superman not even flinching away from him or leaning away as if he wanted to try to stand away from him without letting on. Both were completely calm, at ease.

M'Gann bounced over to Kon-El, her green face beaming from a smile that could have outshone the sun in Conner's opinion, and wrapped her arms around one of his thick arms. She pecked his cheek and whispered something in his ear that made Conner – both of them – and Superman blush a bit.

Superman coughed in warning and M'Gann giggled before bouncing off again. Kon-El couldn't stop her fast enough, his hand unable to catch her cape before she was at Zatanna's side. The sorceress was standing next to Artemis who was sending occasional glances towards Kid Flash who was busy talking to Red Arrow. Both boys had a hand on the shoulder of each criminal and were talking – joking – with each other. Conner cocked his head in interest at the odd looks the blonde archer was sending the junior speedster. When was that going to start up?

"Alright…," Superman sighed. "Where are the wonderful police of the city now?"

"Late," Zatanna and Artemis chorused. They looked back at each other, pointed and yelled "Jinx!" at the same time. The very red colored Robin stared at them in amazement and shook his head. Kon-El started laughing heartily, leaning back a bit as his huge body shook from laughter.

"Stop," Kaldur chided them with a slight moan. He was down the line a bit, watching out for the cops that were supposed to be coming soon. Then again, the whole issue on them being late probably had a lot to do with the fact that this was Gotham's evil twin sister city.

"Are they even going to bother come?" the Red Robin asked sounding more irritated than anything else. Also, there was a slight hint of excitement hidden there. Conner automatically stiffened, his own Robin doing the same thing. M'Gann read minds as well as Superman read voices – though, Batman was better in both areas than both.

"They better," Kon-El rumbled, allowing his irritation to shine through. He hiked his shoulders, arms crossed over his wide chest. "It's either that or I have to call a specific cop and ask him to call them – and bitch them all out."

"Something tells me I know who you're suggesting," Red Arrow muttered softly. "Please don't bring him in…he's already worse than I was."

"Yeah…let's leave him alone," Kid Flash said though he seemed to want nothing more than to see this person they were mentioning.

"We're not going to call him," Superman stated. He deadpanned it really. Kon-El sent him a look that said almost everything. Red Robin did too.

"I'm going to guess Batgirl called you," Red Robin murmured.

"No."

"Bats?" Kon-El asked.

"Yes."

"Lovely," Kon-El mused softly, turning his head to gaze at the crashing ports. To Conner, it sounded like Kon-El hadn't expected _Batman_ to call in about this cop they were mentioning – seemingly avoiding as well.

"Why not?" Kid Flash asked – naturally.

Kon-El sent him the darkest glare Conner and Robin had ever seen. Maybe it was just because it was on par with the Bat-glare but it had Superman's face behind it which only meant that there was an undeniable power – instead of a wonder that it may be a bluff or may not be like with Batman – behind the threat.

Kid flinched a bit at the glare and Superman placed a gentling hand on his son's shoulder, a nervous smile forming on his face. Conner flushed when Robin nudged him with an elbow and stuck out his tongue playfully. Behind them, Nightwing shook his head, his eyes rolling in slight irritation – apparently, he agreed with them on how it had taken long enough.

"We're just not going to bother him," Red Robin explained.

"That doesn't really answer the question," Kaldur muttered softly, a bit put out. Even M'Gann looked unhappy about not being able to at least check in with this person.

"He's on strict home stay at the moment since he got himself shot in the line of duty," Kon-El snapped. The group's eyes collectively widened in horror. Zucco flinched a bit but Mallory snorted softly. "And he doesn't want to see any of us anyway so forget it!"

"A cop got shot here?" Malory laughed ruefully. "That's just sad."

Kon-El's expression turned sinister – Superman groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head.

"Says the sniper in question," Kon-El smirked, crossing his arms over his chest in a smug gesture. He had an upper hand and the murderous looks on the groups' faces only began to cement it in. When he began to figure it out, Mallory's face fell, his heartbeat picking up in fear. Even Superman was giving him an evil look that was well hidden behind exhaustion.

Robin and Conner shared a look – they knew who was being spoken of. On duty cop, shot in action, who knew Kon-El. There weren't many people who fit that description at the moment.

The sound of sirens began to reach their ears and Red Arrow managed to loosen his bowstring a bit once it came screaming towards them. Artemis took the bow from her string as well, placing it reverently back into the quiver, her eyes still blazing. Kid Flash crossed his arms over his chest, muttering about common courtesy while M'Gann patted his shoulder gently. Zatanna and Red Robin made themselves look as bored as possible while Kon-El and Superman made sure to make themselves look disinterested.

The cars skidded to uneasy halts and the first one to leap out was a brunette woman, her eyes firing with determination and irritation. She strode towards the group, barking orders at her companions as she went, all in civilian clothes. There was a gun on her hip sure but it didn't really seem to matter considering she alone could scare the crap out of any petty criminal. Zucco sure seemed scared of her. Mallory had enough sense to look worried about her but relieved for the possibility of escaping the young adults who looked ready to kill him.

"Amy Rohrbach," she snarled, holding up a badge. Conner heard Nightwing stifle a groan as he stiffened behind them. "I'll be happy to tell you we've got our own vigilante hero here; we don't need more of you." Something in her voice said she had something else in mind about aforementioned vigilante though. "Mind telling me who've caught?"

Superman leapt in, Kaldur giving him a thankful look as the cops behind her began to grumble about tight-asses who weren't worth it. Conner had a feeling it was a good thing she didn't have any super powers – those cops may very well be dead by now if her current temper were anything to go on. The explanations were quick, concise and done away with easily. As the elder Super spoke to the woman, the archers dragged Zucco to a car, M'Gann and Wally taking care of Mallory.

Amy, Grayson's partner as Conner remembered from the phone calls, was calming when Superman finally explained that a member of the League had been searching for the man named Zucco for years – making a quick mention of the Grayson family on the sly as he did – and also that Mallory had been the sniper who tried to take out a cop not a week ago. She seemed a bit wary of the fact that none of the team spoke very well of Nightwing when he was mentioned to have been busy with something by Kon-El and Red Robin, but she didn't say anything about it.

Of course, it didn't really help that Conner could only partially agree with the sneers that Red Arrow, Artemis, and KF seemed all too willing to give on the man since he'd only just met him on an apparently shitty night. A cop shooter and someone who'd apparently done something to Nightwing for the reaction he gave when Zucco came up. Hell, the looks Nightwing gave him from a far were enough to strike Conner's nerves a light with concern.

No one should be able to hate another person that much.

"Alright," Amy sighed. "We'll take it from here." She waved them all off with as much snarkiness as she could muster and then turned on her fellows who scattered as she barked orders at them. They were scared of her, some of them irritated at her. It was a strange mixture to see.

As soon as the cars drove off, Superman declared it was time for them all to head home – file any reports they wanted to write up, and so on. KF smiled and stared to bounce about as M'Gann suggested dinner options. The two archers said they'd love to have dinner with the group but had things to do with Green Arrow so they couldn't. Kaldur stated he had a meeting with his king in a few minutes – murmuring that he was not looking forward to reeking of the port waters of Blüdhaven. Zatanna however was all too happy to join in on dinner – especially after Red Robin said he had homework to do.

Kon-El said he'd see if he could make it, that he had something to check in on. Superman casually got the group to ignore it, the harbor suddenly clear of them heroes in a matter of moments. Teleporter beams had arrived out of nowhere for those who signaled for them and M'Gann called down her ship for those who would be coming with her – Kaldur saying he need a shower before going to Atlantis. Superman flew off, casting a quick glance to his son as he went but Kon-El ignored him fairly easily.

"Well that was fun to watch – again," Nightwing hissed as Kon-El landed gently on the container. "Are we done with pleasantries?"

"Yeah…though I have no idea how you plan to get halfway across the world to take care of this without a bit of help," Kon-El replied snarkily. Nightwing scoffed.

"In case you forgot," Nightwing hissed, "I have a cycle that can keep up with _you_!"

"Yeah…but is it in town?"

"Of course it is! If I leave it in Gotham, Batgirl will steal it to race you more often than she already does!"

Kon-El chuckled but nodded as Nightwing shook his head in irritation, pressing a button on his utility belt. It took about ten minutes before the roar of an engine reached their ears and a beautiful motorcycle revved to a halt below them. It was…rival to the ones the team had for their missions. Actually, it was much nicer, like the ones Batman would occasionally show when he had them doing laps on the track for the hell of it all.

Those usually were only driven by him and Robin and would out run the other cycles.

This one rivaled those.

"Batman let you leave with that?" Kon-El asked his eyes wide and highly appreciative. Conner couldn't blame him. It was a sleek black with blue accents, the frame smoother than anything Conner had seen before around school.

"If giving me one of the Bat-planes will keep me from irritating him, he'd give me one," Nightwing smiled. "Sadly, I prefer the bikes."

"Sadly?" Conner groused. The Super-cycle was the only thing he could think of as a better alternative to the sleek bike below them.

"Yeah; the jets are faster," Nightwing shrugged. He glanced back at Kon-El. "Do I have to worry about Superman following?"

"No…he wouldn't bother on this one anyway. He knows we're in deep shit with this – he remembers what went on last time we all had to deal with this remember?"

"Right…wasn't he one of the heads called in?" Nightwing asked. Conner felt a blush rising over his cheeks as the two went about ignoring him and Robin; he disliked being ignored.

"Yeah," Kon-El sneered. "Now…I can fly my past-self if you'll give yours a ride."

"Whatever," was the curt reply. Nightwing turned away from them, rubbing his shoulder as he went, a wince forming on his lips. Conner glanced to Robin who nodded his own assurances. These two were heroes. One of them was Conner's future-self. They couldn't be all that bad; could they?

_I don't like this whole separating thing_, Conner thought bitterly as Nightwing gave Robin a helmet and the two raced off. Kon-El caught his attention by grabbing his wrist and gently lifting off. His blue eyes glowed with an understanding that seemed to sing to Conner's fears and soothe them.

"Come on," Kon-El sighed. "I was exaggerating when I said it was halfway around the world. It's more or less down the coast but since Night's taking the long damned way, it'll take us a bit longer since I plan to fly over his head like a Thanagarian looking for a fight. That sound good to you?"

"Sounds great actually," Conner muttered as he began to feel his feet leave the container.

It felt weird. Even when the Super-cycle flew he'd always had somewhere his feet touched solid ground of sorts. When he leapt off things, he knew he'd be landing somewhere with a purpose – most of the time. This was…odd. He couldn't quite get past that it was his own image that was lifting him off the ground let alone that he'd learn how to do the exact same task. He found himself instinctively gripping Kon-El's wrist with both hands, eyes wide as his muscles tensed and pulled him up a bit. It was like he was scared of falling.

That couldn't be right. Superman flew like it was second nature didn't he? Was it just because he lacked the ability that it felt so…alien to do?

"Who are we visiting?" Conner called up to Kon-El in an effort to not look down as the elder version glided through the air currents like it was nothing.

"Someone you know."

"Who?" _Robin would have asked that question right?_

"Vandal Savage."

"WHO!"

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><p><strong>Please review.<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

**Alright...****Let's see how this chapter goes.**

**Sorry this took so long but I'm graduating in a week, I had three projects to do (got 'em done though!), and have an AP test for tomorrow...Sorry about the wait.**

**FYI: I've done some wikipedia surfing for this chapter so yes...there are refferences to other comics or other story lines that have nothing to do with (or may have nothing to do with) Young Justice. Also...I'm ashamed to admit I'm behind on watching the episodes even though this story is so far off base it may not even matter. I got irritated checking to see if they'd updated and let it sit for a while. Naturally, half a dozen or so episodes came out and a second season has begun. Alright...I know what I'm doing this summer.**

**We'll see if I can get to it between Florida, Japan, and getting ready for college. (does anybody else hear the gang singing 'Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh my'? No? Alright...Tin Man! Help me find my brain!)**

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><p>Savage hadn't aged at all since they'd seen him. Robin could hardly believe he was in the future when he looked at the man but then there was Nightwing standing right next to him. That was not mentioning Kon-El who stood behind Conner like a shadow of what was to come for them all. It was a strangely comforting sight actually to know that Conner was always going to be that big and that strong and that protective.<p>

"Well," Savage sighed with an odd hint of boredom that didn't seem to fit him. There was a collar on his neck that reminded the teenagers distinctly of Belle Reeve. This one however didn't blink red – it blinked blue. "This is a surprise."

Kon-El and Nightwing rolled their eyes – well…Nightwing scoffed loudly enough to accentuate Kon-El rolling his eyes almost as loudly. The teenagers tried to not flinch at the perfectly unison actions but it was a bit difficult. Even if Conner was somewhat sure that Nightwing may be Robin in the future, he'd never thought they were that close of friends.

"That's crap and you know it," Nightwing snarled as he stepped in front of Conner, Kon-El stepping in front of Robin as he did. They stood in ready to fight stances, hands bunched, muscles tensed, knees bent, and their eyes fixed on the man before them.

"Really?" Savage asked in mock shock. "Do I now?"

"How about not yammering on, acting stupid," Kon-El snarled. "You know as well as we do that you're over a million years old, a genius that makes most prodigies look like idiots, and heavily trained in combat, history, science, and – let us not forget – warfare. I could only _wish_ I could call you an idiot and strike gold."

"True; all very true," Savage smiled smugly.

"Too bad we don't have the Immortal Man with us huh Vandar Adg?" Nightwing sneered.

Savage glared at him in a warning but there was a slight spark of fear in his cold eyes. Nightwing smiled a wicked smile, his back relaxing as he straightened a bit. Kon-El gave an equal sneer as he did the same.

"Don't even joke like that," Savage growled. "Just because this collar inhibits my strength, it does not inhibit my intellect. Besides, after so many years, I know your moves like I know that back of my hand; as well as your identities. I do believe I have the winning hand here."

"Not really," Nightwing sneered. "You're just allowed to look at the alternate dimensions so we don't get caught by surprise with whatever their little issues are. Last time that happened…"

Conner couldn't believe Savage moved that fast. He glanced at Robin whose mask was as white as the snow. Kon-El looked almost relieved.

"Past-selves are present," Savage hissed. Nightwing glared at him darkly and he let his hand drop from Nightwing's mouth. "The last thing you all need are the Linear Men on your tails."

"Whatever you say Savage," Nightwing hissed. "How about kicking that old bucket of bolts into action and let us get them to where they should be?"

"Sounds wonderful," Savage sighed in slight irritation – like he felt underappreciated. "Give me a moment or two and I'll have it working in what you all would call a jiffy." He disappeared down the long hall of what equaled a warehouse full of computers and so forth. Of course, most of the technology looked too far over even Robin's skills as a hacker.

Nightwing plopped himself into a seat as Kon-El leaned against a consol. Both seemed to be out of their element as they waited, watching and listening for Savage to do something stupid or dangerous. Conner and robin tried to ignore the niggling feeling that they'd walked into a trap somehow and had to figure out how they'd done it.

After what seemed to be forever, Savage returned with a smug look on his face. Nightwing's lip curled as Kon-El rolled his eyes in response to the expression.

"That damned thing working or not?" Kon-El asked in a hostile tone. Savage gave him a dark look before nodding and marching off with a straight back.

"And I'm suddenly reminded of the World War Two videos on the Nazi's," Robin muttered.

"Not surprising," Nightwing growled. "He's probably one of the few people who told Napoleon not to invade Russia during winter after all."

"Let's _not_ go into Savage's history," Kon-El groaned. "Please…we don't have the time."

Nightwing gave a defeated sounding sigh as he waved them off in a shooing motion, Kon-El beckoning them to follow him. A familiar whirring noise caught their attentions as they turned around a corner of humming computer cages and they tensed in an understandable fear. It had been unpleasant the first time going through that vortex; they weren't looking forward to doing it again.

"At least this time I had enough of a warning to calibrate it so it would not send people to the wrong time," Savage said proudly as he stared at it in what looked like wonder.

"Wrong time?" Robin yelled in irritation. "Isn't any time that's not your own the wrong time?"

Savage looked at him like he had three heads. "Not at all; especially not if you are immortal like myself. What I meant was wrong time frame. I wanted to go into the past but it wasn't calibrated when you two fell into it. This is why you were sent to this time. Thankfully, due to my capture," he sounded irritated by that fact, "I have been staring at the timelines for ages, been able to do calculations off the alternate dimensions, and also go over what these two felt free to tell me to get this all ready."

"Please don't thank us for what we _gave_ you," Kon-El snarled.

"Given reluctantly…" Nightwing muttered softly more to Kon-El than the others in the room. He sounded irritated about it too. Kon-El managed to also hold the look that mirrored his tone perfectly too which made the boys feel a bit uncomfortable. Even Savage had enough tact to look away from them.

"I do thank you for it," was a smug sounding reply that managed to still sound sincere.

"Right…Is the stupid thing calibrated completely yet or do we have to wait another day or something?" Kon-El asked with a bit of a snarl in his tone. Savage had some decency to look chagrined.

"It's ready for you," Savage repeated.

Nightwing scoffed, turning his head to stare at a distant computer screen that had images flashing over it. He watched it for a moment before turning his eyes away in revulsion. Kon-El happened to catch the movement, glanced over, and ended up looking away like he was sick too. Conner was about to follow their gazes when Savage cleared his throat, giving the teenagers a meaningful look, their seniors matching it with their own renditions.

_"Trust me when I say that I don't want to know everything the future has to offer," Batman had once said. "I don't really want to know whether I'm truly making a difference since I already feel I am and having at least one delusion is enough for me at the moment. I don't really want any more clarity. Actually, I don't think I could stand having any more."_

There are things that others probably shouldn't know about right? There were plenty of reasons to not ask questions about what was going on in this time since if they knew too much they could potentially mess it up. Maybe it wouldn't have been an injured Grayson who they'd run into, or maybe it wouldn't have been Conner's future-self who helped them. Maybe that Mallory guy would have gotten a lucky shot into them rather than a cop with a scary partner.

To tell the truth, there were too many possibilities to even try to list.

"They can go through whenever they feel ready to," Savage stated easily, waving them on to the swirling portal before them. Instead of having to fall through it, they'd be able to walk it through it this time. Robin felt his throat close up as he swallowed thick bile.

"Where's it going to dump us?" Conner asked cautiously.

"In Gotham," Savage stated. He gave another wave and the boys shared a look with each other before glancing at the elders.

"What should your report say?" Kon-El asked. They nodded.

"Say you dropped into another time, met your future-selves, and then say that we said to not say anything more since it is the future and you don't want to change it more than this little trip of yours already did," Nightwing muttered. "Now, go through will you?"

Robin pouted but Conner had enough sense to grab him by the arm and gently pull him to the portal. He tried to ignore the fact that it was Savage helping them, tried to ignore the fact that at least his future-self was watching them do this and brought them to Savage for the help, and tried to ignore the whole thing about it being the future he was standing in and because of it he'd have to omit things to his mentors and friends.

"Watch out for the drop though," Kon-El said quickly before shoving them both into the vortex before Conner could ask what he meant.

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><p><strong>Please review.<strong>


	23. Chapter 23

**Alright...****Let's see how this chapter goes.**

**I've finally graduated from high school - now I'm a college freshman...urk. Still, I am going to Florida soon as well as Japan so if I stop updating, I've become swamped with other things. Whoo.**

**Most of this is stream of consiousness and I'm thinking I'll wrap this story up soon since now it's just wandering blindly. Plus, I caught up to the most recent episode of YJ (Why Kaldur? Why? And M'Gann...you scare me. Plus, where's Artemis and Roy?) and feel like I made an alternate dimension story almost. *Shrug* Whatever. Hope you enjoy this.**

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><p>They were falling.<p>

Simple as that; they were falling again. Conner pulled Robin close to his broad body as they felt like the vortex was trying to press them into tiny pieces whilst pulling them apart like a kid with taffy in her hands. He cradled Robin's head in the crook of his neck as they tumbled for what seemed to be forever in stagnant air and gripping silence that made their breathing echo.

Suddenly, sound slammed into Conner's sensitive ears, the stagnant air abruptly cool and biting at his skin. His eyes blinked open to find they were in the air, Gotham glowing in the distance and the ocean roaring nearby. He was also over Robin's smaller body, their weight caught sharply by gravity and yanked downward. Acting quickly, Conner spun them in the air to make sure Robin was the one looking at the ground while he looked at the sky which seemed to grow as they shot to the earth.

"Supes!" Robin yelped as he began to fully realized the situation. He tried to thud his fist against Conner's chest but with the bigger boy's thick arms around him, he found himself trying to move in vain. "Superboy! We can't land like this; even you'll get injured!"

"I'll be fine," Conner shot back. "It's you who'll get bruised up from this fall; not me."

He knew he was lying though. He'd be bruised up from this but it would be better than his not realizing soon enough and getting Robin killed because of the earth coming to meet them and him sandwiching the boy so he couldn't even bounce away from the fatal fall. Robin had to live through this though or else he'd never become Nightwing and argue with the other team members in Young Justice.

The ground met them, Conner curling around Robin as best he could, and he felt his body protest. This was different from falling from the bioship and landing on his feet. He'd never really hit terminal velocity in a fall before now and his knees had always flexed enough to soften the landing. He hadn't really been able to prepare for this one though and his back screamed out in pain as it landed against hard rock and couldn't recover as they ricocheted off it, bouncing haphazardly as Conner barely managed to keep Robin from getting too badly bumped.

Once they settled, Conner was lying on his side, Robin clutched to his body in a protective hold. They panted as they tried to find a way to calm their hearts. Slowly, Conner rolled onto his back and let his arms fall limply to his sides. Once Robin felt the weight lift, he rolled off Conner and lay on his back to catch his breath.

"Bruised?" Robin hissed a bit bitterly.

"Shut up," Conner groaned, nearly pleading. His head was pounding from a rock's rather lucky slam to his cranium. Robin scoffed at him as his hand raised to his ear to try to call the team and say they were alright. He found that he'd misplaced the earwig though and he sighed irritably.

"I lost my earwig," he muttered. Out of the corner of his eyes he caught Conner checking his own ears with his fingertips.

"Me too…What about that button on your belt?"

Robin's hand strayed to the belt to find the call button. He smiled softly when he found it.

"Broadcasting," he sighed with a bit of relief.

"You're sure?"

Robin frowned. "Mostly."

"Great…"

"The button works at least."

"What a silver lining."

"You even know what that means?"

"Yeah…Kid Flash explained it to me once."

"Wow…you're blushing!"

"Shut up…quit laughing!"

Robin couldn't; he knew he should but he couldn't and found himself rolled into a ball as he laughed uncontrollably. Conner scowled at him, irritated that his friend was able to laugh at him so easily. He'd never liked being laughed at and was fairly thankful that people at school had enough sense to feel his size was a bit daunting. All he could say was it was probably a good thing he'd gotten his father's broad shoulders and thick chest.

"Sorry," Robin managed after a while. "Sorry." He dissolved into more laughter and Conner swore he heard his lungs not getting enough air. He scowled at the stars as if they could be to blame, and waited for Robin to stop laughing. He did, gasping for air.

"Why is it always so funny when I blush?" Conner asked when Robin was breathing normally again. He winced softly after he spoke, his ribs finally screaming in pain at him.

"Because, it usually takes a lot to get Superman to blush so it's always a bit of funny thing when it happens for seemingly no reason," Robin explained through gasps. "Like you blushing when I point out things about your knowledge growing. It's a good thing that you're learning Supes."

"The least you could do is not laugh at me…"

"If it weren't so funny, I wouldn't," Robin shrugged. "After all, you _did_ sprout denial when you told me to shut up."

"That's nice to know," Conner retorted as best as he could manage.

His ribs were still yelling at him to be quiet, to lay still. He wanted to. For once, he wanted to just lay still for a while and ignore the world. He wanted to pretend it didn't exist for an hour or so. Maybe…maybe this is what it'd feel like when he was older and tired of protecting the world from other things that really only wanted to have their way for a little while.

"Your ribs in pain?"

Conner nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Robin speak. It had been quiet for a while and he'd even let his eyes close to enjoy the silence. It was easily shattered when Robin spoke but the sound was strangely welcome.

"Yeah…"

"Told you you'd get bruised up."

"Be quiet!" A pause as his eyes widened. "Ouch."

Robin gave him a look but didn't say anything else on the subject. He let his eyes wander back up to the sky, hoping for the sound of his father's jets to reach his ears and tell him that they were home free. That jet meant good things to him; any engine of a Batman's making was comforting to him ever since that night so many years ago.

"This is stupid," Conner muttered.

"What is?"

"The fact we have to lie to our team, our mentors. I think it's stupid."

"It may seem stupid to you but it's necessary. Even Batman cringes from knowing the future and would prefer to steer clear of it if it can be helped. You're not supposed to know absolutely everything; especially not when you're mortal."

"That…almost makes sense."

"Good to know."

They lay in silence for a while, the stars dimming as the horizon began to turn a sherbet orange and pink. Robin pressed the button on his hip again and again, his lips going fry as he began to think it'd been busted in the fall or in the warp tunnels or hit with strange radiation. Conner was silent beside him but it was still a comforting silence since he could feel the heat rolling off the bigger boy's body.

The sky was turning blue when a familiar hum reached their ears, Conner pretending he only caught it when Robin's ears would have. As Robin tried to not sigh in relief, Conner angled his head to catch sight of a jet racing through the air as if turbulence was something of the imagination. It dipped and then dove to a hidden entrance somewhere that Conner couldn't spot. Robin sighed unhappily beside him when he realized that they weren't getting picked up after all.

"The button works at least right?" Conner mumbled halfheartedly.

"In the fact that I can press it and it won't resist being pressed," Robin mumbled back. "Yeah…the button works…sort of."

"Silver lining."

"Shush."

Conner chortled for a moment before wincing again, his ribs protesting at him.

Silence enveloped them for another moment as they let their thoughts run rampant.

The jet had been one of Batman's but it hadn't landed nearby to pick them up – knowing Batman they'd be yanked off the ground and thrown into the jet like rag dolls. That probably meant that the beacon was well and truly dead which meant…they had to find a way to get a hold of someone some other way. They didn't have ear wigs and so they were completely cut off. Conner's body hurt too much to move for a while – though the sunlight seemed to be helping him a bit as it began to warm his skin – so they'd have to stay put for a little while longer than he'd like.

"I think…you'll be able to move in ten minutes," Robin murmured. Conner gave him a look.

"What math is _that_ coming from?"

"You've got maybe half of Superman's strength, speed, power, etc. I think…from a fall like the one we took it'd take Clark maybe five minutes to heal up with enough sunlight." Conner gave him a glare. "I'm doubling it to be on the safe side. I've never actually been able to time Clark's healing ability before because you're always in a fight when he's using it and either way, he shows up at the perfect time."

"Oh…"

"Good to know I'm not going to get punched for making a guess."

Conner's cheeks flushed a bit at that statement. "Sorry; I hate being told I'm not as good as the person I'm cloned from."

"Well how do you think it feels to be measured up to Batman? You know, when you only catch the bad guys goons, you get ignored – and Batman always catches the bad guys."

Conner frowned at the revelation. It was a little difficult to believe that Robin had any grudge to hold against his father figure – since his actually gave a damn – but it made sense. Red Arrow disliked his mentor since he'd felt like he'd gotten the short end of a stick. M'Gann didn't seem to have family issues though her telepathic powers worried her.

"How're your ribs?"

"Better," Conner grunted as he sat up. "So…what's the plan now?"

"To get our bearings first," Robin explained as he hopped to his feet gracefully. "Then, we find a way to contact the team. We also have to come up with what we're going to say to them about where we were."

"Future Blüdhaven, met our future-selves, got transported back to here; not much else to say right? Even Batman doesn't want to know absolutely everything."

"Right…and when Wally gets all curious and starts bugging us with questions?"

"You lay down some industry glue, we run him into it, and I punch him as lightly as I can."

Robin stared at him for a moment for breaking down into laughter. Conner grinned. Yeah, he liked that plan too though he hoped Wally wouldn't go that far to annoy them.

"As wonderful a plan as that sounds," a deep rumble growled from behind and above their heads, "I seriously doubt it would get him to leave you two alone."

The boys looked up, their eyes widening.

"So," Superman said as he landed before them. "Where have you two been?"

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	24. Chapter 24

**The reaturn/end of Accident Prone. ****Hope you enjoy this.**

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><p>"You expect us to believe you two simply went to the future, met our future-selves, were saved by Savage of all people, and didn't bring back a souvenir?" Wally was saying as Robin and Conner sat in the recreation room in civilian clothes.<p>

Conner had given him multiple glares over the past week of their return but those hadn't swayed him from asking questions. Robin had had the amazing luck of not being around for quite a few days – Batman pulling him into personal Gotham missions – and had been spared for the most part. However, Wally was making up for lost time. Robin wasn't rising to the bait but Conner could tell Wally was grating on Kaldur's nerves.

"Wally, please," Kaldur pleaded. "Stop asking. Batman himself ordered they remain silent about what they saw and heard."

"Thanks for the reminder," Wally sighed sounding irritated.

He'd wanted an answer to Superman almost literally dropping the two young heroes into the main hall of the Cave, the zeta tubes screeching their arrival, for a while now. After all, the two boys had been left separate from the group since only Kaldur had really been present in the Cave at the time since the others had been in school. Canary had done quick scans of them to make sure they weren't injured – Superboy's ribs weren't broken but they were certainly a bit bruised.

Superman had called Batman in since Robin had been involved – Conner found himself far more jealous of the younger hero than usual when his mentor wrapped him into a tight hug, relief rolling off his broad frame in waves. Even Superman seemed to pick up on it when he'd been watching, his usual tiptoe motions around Conner getting even more careful and worried. There was a very noticeable look of subdued respect there though too – Conner had saved Robin's life in the return fall after all.

The details had been sketchy at best.

They explained they'd been sent to the future – maybe ten years or so – an ally had housed them for a couple days or so and that they'd been privy to at least one fight involving the team. Something about the fight sparked a light of hope in Conner's eyes which made them all feel a bit more hopeful considering they mentioned one of the heroes wasn't liked all that much – and that he didn't seem to like anyone in the team. The story moved onto two being taken to see Savage to get back to their time.

Nothing on who they actually spoke to within the future team, nothing on who the team disliked, and nothing on the ally who housed them until they could get them back home. Nothing on who the enemy in the fight had been or even who said what around them during their little trip.

No clear details were ever actually given and Wally wanted nothing of it.

"Come on guys, tell me; please?" he begged. Kaldur and Artemis moaned as they rubbed their foreheads tiredly. M'Gann sighed and returned her focus to her cooking.

"Batman asked us to not say anything alright?" Robin muttered a bit tired sounding. "We can't talk about it so please quit asking."

Wally frowned softly and then nodded. "Fine…I'll give it a rest…for today. No promises for tomorrow." He looked almost ready to race off when Robin raised a hand to catch his attention quickly. "Yeah?"

"Don't go down that hallway," Robin said as he pointed towards the main hall. There was a devious smile on his face that everyone in the room recognized. Wally nodded and sped down another hallway. Conner gave him a confused glance but Robin just smiled.

There was yelp and a bang and a string of rather colorful curses.

"What happened?" Kaldur asked as he moved to stand up again.

"I don't think you have to hit him Conner," Robin said. Conner smiled.

"I see you found the industry glue," Conner chuckled as Robin nodded as the others went a bit pale with understanding and then started laughing. They were laughing so loudly that Conner could barely hear Wally yelling back at them asking what was so funny.

"Can't believe that worked!" Conner laughed with glee as Robin and the others either doubled over with laughter or tried to stifle it.

"You should; I came up with it," Robin scoffed after a moment.

"Says the kid who's accident prone," Conner jeered before racing off to avoid Robin punching him playfully on the shoulder.

"Connor!" Robin yelled after him.

"So begins another normal week in the Cave," Kaldur sighed. He'd let the two youngest figure this out between themselves. He had to get Wally unstuck.

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